[kelli32]

This happened to me when I worked at a grocery store in HS. This meat department guy came up behind me in the back and put his hand up the back of my shirt. When I turned around with my fist cocked he backed away and said "I won't tell if you don't" Like I did something wrong!! My boss, fortunately, handled it very well but he didn't get fired and I still had to be around him occassionally. It was very awkward and uncomfortable for me, especially since I was 17 and he was probably 25-26. I couldn't imagine what it would be like had my boss not handled the situation maturely! I wish you luck and you have witnesses so don't be afraid to go over your temp managers head with a sexual harrassment charge. Your dignity is worth it!

[Blcarter84]

And of course most employers are at will employers and can basically fire you for no reason at all....but this is a lawsuit kind of thing so that company should be watching their own behinds!

[Not that girl]

I can't even begin to tell you how much it infuriates me to hear this story. I fully support your so-called "assault" on that guy, and I think that your supervisor really needs to take a second look at his actions. If you notified him of the problem before, and it escalated now, he's liable for the consequences.

If your temp agency fires you for quitting this position, there must be some action you can take. I agree with the girls who say you should get a lawyer, but I know that if it were me, I wouldn't be able to afford one. I found this website that may be able to help you.

aauw.org/advocacy/laf//

Hopefully you can find some helpful information there.

I'm so pissed off for you right now. I'm sure that it feels great to have quit, and it may not even be worth it to you to take it further even if you get fired, but you should be validated knowing that you're completely right here, and there are laws and people supporting you.

Good luck. =)

[Shannon in ATL]

I'm not in my 20's, but I am in HR, so if it is okay I would like to give an HR perspective on this:
You did everything right with both the offender and the employer - you told the offender that you didn't like the behavior and asked him to stop. Once this was done you were very clearly protected when the behavior continued. There is a lot of precedent of people losing sexual harassment cases as pervasive or worse than this one because they didn't ask the offender to stop - the system sometimes sees this as tacit approval, and even like, of the behavior. Sucks, but unfortunately true. Good for you in telling him to back off. You also told your employer what happened immediately, which so many people don't bother to do. Going to the temp agency was good as well - they should move you to another assignment. The employer at the site and the tep agency both the responsibility to provide a safe working environment for you. It sounds like you are a strong person -use that strength in this situation. G

Document, document, document. EEOC loves documentation.

The employer doesn't sound to me like he was threatening - sounds like he thought you were going to quit this position and was afraid of the response from the temp agency. I could be wrong, but that is how I read his actions.

Are they investigating this? How is it going?

And, what people said about how the guy could be nuts is true, too. Keep your eyes open, try not to go to your car alone. The fact that he brought physical contact into the picture so fast is a red flag to me.

Good luck.

Edit: Oh, and I would have popped him in the nose, too. This kind of thing makes me so angry my hands start to shake.

[NishKitten]

Thank you all so much for all of the great advice. Even though I quit, the owner of the company made it a point to call me to tell me that he did hear about it and told me that he strongly advised I make a formal complaint so they can start a record on that guy.

In the 30+ years he has been there he has intimidated a few women just with comments and being generally creepy, and something similar to my situation happened 8 years ago. It seems he only tries to target women in their 20's or late teens, but nobody has EVER filed a report, complained, or told him to back off! Because of that, it's like you said Shannon -- it's considered complacency and they can't do anything about it.

He said it was frustrating because the guy is at the company due to some state mandate (I don't know what, but probably one of those forced hirings of felons) so he's exempt to 'at will' firing unless they can prove he's breaking the law or hindering productivity in some way, but for some reason those women never wanted to take any real recourse against him so there he stays.

I'm making a report though. Hopefully they can fire him. I heard from the Asst Manager on the floor that Creepy Dude is trying to explain the fact that he got beat up by a girl by claiming that I must have some sort of extensive formal training in martial arts because of how hard I whacked him in the ribs. He's also stated it's illegal and can be considered assault with a deadly weapon.

My elbows as deadly weapons ... hmmmm. I don't even think Chuck Norris has deadly elbows. Could I copyright that?

So far I haven't heard anything from the temp agency, but that doesn't surprise me in the least. I like being a nanny. I'm already trained in advanced first aid and CPR, so i'm going to go on post and get certified in those babysitting classes. Anyone in Southside VA need someone to watch their chill'rin?