HR pros see a boatload of outrageous workplace conduct. But this manager’s actions were truly beyond the pale.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently settled a sexual harassment and retaliation case involving a call center manager for BellSouth in Georgia.
Here’s how the agency described the situation:
Two of BellSouth’s female employees were sexually harassed by the male manager of the Kennesaw, Ga., call center where they were employed, the EEOC said in a press release.
Immediately upon the manager’s arrival at the call center, he began making inappropriate sexual comments in sales meetings.
Specifically, in his very first meeting with his sales managers he made sexually inappropriate statements and pantomimed engaging in sexual intercourse on the floor of the conference room.
The manager called one woman a “b—h” during a telephone conference with one of his managers, the EEOC said. He routinely and continually talked about sex and asking out women as analogies when giving speeches in sales meetings, and would make sexual comments about the women’s attire.
Hugs followed by retaliation
The manager would also hug the women unwantedly when greeting them and move his hand down their backs toward their posteriors when he did so.
And possibly the worst part: When the two employees complained, the EEOC said, BellSouth retaliated against them by denying them promotions and demoting them.
The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. Final result: BellSouth agreed to fork over $120,000 to settle the case.
In addition to the monetary relief, the settlement includes provisions for the company providing equal employment opportunity training and reporting and the posting of anti-discrimination notices.
BellSouth Telecommunications provides telephone, Internet and related services in the Southeastern United States.
In the lawsuit and consent decree, BellSouth denied any liability or wrongdoing.
