2013
Employees Sexually Harassed by Supervisor File Suit
The public health plan that runs Ventura County’s Medi-Cal system has been sued again early this year. Recently, there was a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by two former Gold Coast Health Plan employees who alleged their termination from employment constituted illegall retaliation. Now, a third former employee has come forward that she was sexually harassed by the plan’s former CEO. Like the employees in the first lawsuit, the third employee also claims retaliation, alleging she was fired after reporting the sexual harassment.
The most recent lawsuit was brought by a former administrative assistant for the plan. She alleges that the plan’s former CEO who resigned in March 2013, engaged in a pattern of sexually harassment that created a hostile work environment. Among other things, the woman claims her former supervisor sent her sexually explicit emails and text messages, gave her a flash drive containing pornography and spanked her in an elevator.
The woman claims that she reported the harassment to the company’s HR director but that no action was taken to end the unlawful conduct. The HR director is one of the plaintiffs in the first lawsuit. That suit claims the HR director was fired for reporting sexual harassment complaints made by other employees as well as other workplace improprieties.
Sexual harassment is against the law in California. The law prohibits unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature such as unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate comments, leering, and sexually visual materials in the workplace. If you have been the victim of sexual harassment, call our offices today for free advice. We help all of our sexual harassment clients on a contingent fee basis, which means we do not get paid until we are able to recover you money first.
