Firing an Employee for Complaining About Sexual Harassment of Another Employee Is Illegal Retaliation

American Queen Steamboat Company has agreed to pay $50,000 to resolve a retaliation lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  The EEOC’s lawsuit alleges that in 2015, American Queen terminated a cruise director after he submitted a written complaint regarding a co-worker who had been suffering from ongoing sexual harassment.  The complaint blamed a manager, who was also a friend of the alleged harasser, for the manner in which he handled the victim’s initial complaint of sexual harassment.  The manager then confronted the cruise director and threatened his job.  The cruise director also reported this alleged retaliation to his supervisor.  The supervisor took no action, and the cruise director was later terminated.  An employee may not be fired in retaliation for that employee’s reporting and complaint of sexual harassment of a co-worker pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  See EEOC v. American Queen Steamboat Co., No. 17-cv-02669 (W.D. Tenn).