Wireless Solutions Sued for Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

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A woman who worked for a Wireless Solutions store in San Antonio; is suing her employer after she was fired for complaining about being sexually harassed by the store’s manager.

The wireless specialty retailer, owned by Al Meghani Enterprise, Inc., is being investigated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for violating federal law for sexual harassment and retaliation against the employee.

The suit claims the manager of the company’s store made sexual remarks and sent text messages propositioning for sex and asking for explicit photographs.   The woman objected the sexual advances and reported the conduct, but the company fired her.   This is a direct violation of the Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits workplace sexual harassment and retaliation against an employee for opposing harassment.

After pre-litigation settlement attempts were unsuccessful, the EEOC will seek damages for the sales representative and injunctive relief to remedy and prevent the reoccurrence of sexual harassment and retaliation in the Al Meghani Enterprise, Inc. company.

It was pointed out by Eduardo Juarez, the EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney, that a hostile work environment, brought on by the store’s manager, can be especially devastating to harassment victims.  It is the employer’s responsibility to protect their employees against the kind of harassment the victim was receiving from the manager.  It is vital to ensure employees can raise concerns about sexual harassment without the fear of being fired.

This event was avoidable. With skilled sexual harassment prevention training and properly-crafted anti-harassment policies, management should ensure workers correctly report and managers properly investigate, document and resolve various forms of unlawful harassment, discrimination and retaliation.