Firing Employee for Complaining about Sexual Harassment is Illegal

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently settled a lawsuit against a security services firm in which the EEOC had claimed that the company had subjected female employees to sexual harassment and at least one employee to retaliation as well.  The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that one of the company’s site managers had subjected a female security guard to unwanted touching, inappropriate and lewd sexual comments, and that he had cornered this guard in an elevator and kissed her without consent.  The guard complained to management.  Instead of addressing the manager’s inappropriate and illegal behavior, the company fired the guard in retaliation for her complaints.  The EEOC further alleged that this manager had also sexually harassed a class of female employees at the company with similar behavior including sexual advances, inappropriate sexual comments, requests for explicit pictures, and an attempt to kiss another employee.  Other managers saw this harassment, but the company did nothing to stop it.  This alleged conduct is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex, as well as complaints about such discrimination and harassment.  See EEOC v. MVM, Inc., No. 1:17-cv-02881 (D. Md.).