My fiance was suspended for sexual harassment. The female co-worker claims that he pulled her close to him and felt on her breast. She also made mention of him making a comment about his genitalia. There was a witness that said that did not happen. This female has been to our home twice with other co-workers. The "harassment" took place in public, right in front of the office door, with a witness. My fiance gave her a "guy hug" where each person has one hand on the other's back and the other hand is gripped in the middle with the other person's. So, there was no free hand to touch her breasts. Also, there was one other time when she grabbed his behind and he said, "Don't touch me, I'm a big boy." That was the only comment that he has made to her that she could even think that he was referring to his genitalia. He got called in to HR and they told him that he was being suspended for sexual harassment. They told him her version vaguely and gave him the opportunity to tell his version. He was suspended and she was not, even though she grabbed his behind. She also hit him 2-3 times on his back after the "guy hug" and yelled profanities at him. The witness is going to speak with HR and the sales director about the situation.

What do you think the outcome of this will be? He was suspended for the rest of that day up until Tuesday- (this just happened Friday). She was not suspended and after my fiance left work, she was in the director's office for nearly an hour. Still no suspension. His workstation was also moved. There was no investigation of any kind. It was just her word versus his. We live in Florida.

What do you think the outcome of this will be? No one here would have the remotest idea. Much depends on what this witness says and how credible his employer finds the woman bringing the complaint vs. your fiance.

She was not suspended and after my fiance left work, she was in the director's office for nearly an hour. Still no suspension. That's because your fiance never mentioned her grabbing his behind until AFTER she accused him of SH so now it pretty much looks like little more than "the best defense is a good offense." If he thought her behavior was inappropriate (as indeed it was) he should have informed management about that at the time it happened.

If the company suspends her now, it will appear like retaliation for bringing the SH complaint.

Thank you for the response. I certainly see your point. What do you think he should do at this point? He goes back to work today and he plans on having a quick meeting prior to the start of his shift with the director.

Return to work and cooperate fully with whatever further investigation may still be going on and/or follow whatever directives the employer provides.

Your fiance should stay far, far away from this co-worker and have no contact whatsoever if he can avoid it. If the job requires them to have any sort of interaction, your fiance should ask his supervisor how that should be handled. And if she says or does anything inappropriate to him, he should report that to HR immediately.