Sexual Harassment Cases
Sexual Harassment and Racial Harassment Worth $2.4 Million
Typically when you think of sexual harassment you think of a man and woman. Usually, when you think about racial harassment your thoughts go to black and white. A Chicago court just awarded a $2.4 million settlement in a sexual harassment and racial harassment case that involved neither.
According to The Cook County Record, Robert Smith is an African American who used to work as a butcher at Rosebud Farmstand, a grocer on Chicago's south side. Smith alleged that his Latino coworkers used to grab his genitals, slap his butt, and simulate homoerotic acts. They would also use racial and sexual vulgarity around him. He said he was frequently called him a “monkey” and told to “go back to …show more content…
After Smith filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint, his co-workers vandalized his car and made threatening gestures that worried him to the point that he quit the job. He decided to file a lawsuit in 2011.
Smith's attorney noted that other blacks were harassed at the store but did not come forward. “Unless people file a lawsuit or take action, harassers will continue to create a hostile working environment and harass. We need more people like Mr. Smith to take a stand and fight for what is right."
The jury agreed. According to The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, they awarded Smith "$250,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages on each of three claims — sexual harassment, racial harassment and retaliation". Further, "On a claim brought under the Illinois Gender Violence Act, the jury ordered Castenada to pay $50,000 in compensatory and $100,000 in punitive damages. Mendoza was ordered to pay $2,500 in compensatory and $5,000 in punitive damages.
“I think the jury wanted to send a message: When you go to work, you don’t surrender your body," his lawyer
Typically when you think of sexual harassment you think of a man and woman. Usually, when you think about racial harassment your thoughts go to black and white. A Chicago court just awarded a $2.4 million settlement in a sexual harassment and racial harassment case that involved neither.
According to The Cook County Record, Robert Smith is an African American who used to work as a butcher at Rosebud Farmstand, a grocer on Chicago's south side. Smith alleged that his Latino coworkers used to grab his genitals, slap his butt, and simulate homoerotic acts. They would also use racial and sexual vulgarity around him. He said he was frequently called him a “monkey” and told to “go back to …show more content…
After Smith filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint, his co-workers vandalized his car and made threatening gestures that worried him to the point that he quit the job. He decided to file a lawsuit in 2011.
Smith's attorney noted that other blacks were harassed at the store but did not come forward. “Unless people file a lawsuit or take action, harassers will continue to create a hostile working environment and harass. We need more people like Mr. Smith to take a stand and fight for what is right."
The jury agreed. According to The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, they awarded Smith "$250,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages on each of three claims — sexual harassment, racial harassment and retaliation". Further, "On a claim brought under the Illinois Gender Violence Act, the jury ordered Castenada to pay $50,000 in compensatory and $100,000 in punitive damages. Mendoza was ordered to pay $2,500 in compensatory and $5,000 in punitive damages.
“I think the jury wanted to send a message: When you go to work, you don’t surrender your body," his lawyer