Workplaces are centers of productivity and should be free of any sort of discrimination due to race, gender, sexual orientation and other classifications protected by the state of California. If supervisors and colleagues abuse people in the workplace, the victim has the right to speak out against it.
One former member of a major California city’s sanitation bureau has allegedly faced most of the possible forms of workplace discrimination during his career. He was transferred to a new office, allegedly as punishment for complaining about the misconduct of a colleague. He was fired when he complained about the reassignment.
The worker then filed a complaint for retaliation, although the bureau claimed he had falsified documents. The city’s board of civil service commission ordered his reinstatement more than a year later after the agency ruled his firing was unfounded. But the alleged abuse was not at an end.
The man in question suffered “rampant insults and slurs” upon his supervisors’ belief that he was homosexual. Obscene objects were left on his desk, explicit cartoons were posted in the office and a fake image of the man engaged in homosexual sex was distributed across the city. After a workplace collapse, the man went on medical leave.
The alleged victim of this abuse then sued his employer for retaliation and discrimination in a hostile work environment. He also sought damages for the medical side effects of abusive behavior. The jury awarded nearly $19 million in damages, lost wages and legal costs.
Victims of employment discrimination are protected by California law and may sue for emotional distress, wages lost after abuse and costs related to lawsuits. An attorney can help clarify a victim’s position and help assemble a claim for financial damages after abuse damages a person’s well-being or career.
Source: Inquirer.net, “Work discrimination based on sexual orientation is illegal in California,” C. Joe Sayas, Jr., March 03, 2018