On May 21, a former software engineer who worked at Uber Technologies Inc. in California filed a lawsuit claiming that she experienced years of sexual harassment while working at the company. The female software engineer said that the workplace had a male-dominated culture that included discriminatory, degrading and sexually harassing conduct that was aimed at the female workers.
The former worker said that the male employees would openly talk about who they would have sex with and would make inappropriate statements about appearances. She claimed that the company failed to resolve the situation and even ignored an incident where a drunk employee touched her thigh while on a Las Vegas retreat. She worked for the company from February 2014 to June 2017 when she claimed that she was fired in retaliation for complaining about the sexual harassment.
This lawsuit was filed just days after the company changed its forced-arbitration policy. Under this policy, employees had to go through the arbitration process instead of being able to file a lawsuit. The former software engineer is reportedly seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Some companies retaliate against employees when they report incidents of sexual harassment or other wrongdoings the employer may be involved in. In some cases, retaliation could include being looked over for a promotion, having hours reduced or being terminated. Employees may even experience threats made against them when it comes to their future. If an employee experiences retaliation on top of sexual harassment and the company refuses to resolve the issue, he or she may have the ability to file a lawsuit against that company. An employment law attorney may work to protect the employee’s rights while seeking compensation for damages, such as compensatory and punitive damages.
Source: Insurance Journal, “Former Uber Engineer Files Suit for Harassment, Retaliation“, Jonathan Stempel , 05/22/2018
