State:MO

I work in a service industry profession where some travel is required. When my co-worker and I travel for work, we would share a room to save on expenses. I am a male and on our very first trip, I offered to get a second room if she were uncomfortable in sharing and told her that either way I had no problem with whatever arrangements she would like. At no point in time did I ever make any advances or make her feel uncomfortable. We have travelled like this for 3 years. My wife did not know about this practice, but I will say that this was somewhat typical with my other co-workers be they male or female. In any event, my boss recently called me in to the office and told me that this practice had been reported to him and that my co-worker felt forced to stay in this environment or else she might lose her job. Please note, my co-worker never filed a complaint and was not the individual who told my boss. He heard this from a 3rd party whom my co-worker never spoke with directly. In addition, the information was never provided to him until my co-worker left for another job.

She has since contacted my boss and told him that she was never made to feel uncomfortable or forced to do anything. His response to her was that this situation had nothing to do with her so I get the feeling he may simply be out for me. In addition, she does not want to provide a written statement in support of me as she simply does not want to be involved.


1. I do not think this constitues SA as my co-worker did not file a complaint, but does my employer have the responsibility for investigating based on, at best, information from a 3rd party?

2. I was told to either resign or go through an investigation. I am pretty much fed up with my employer anyway so what would be the repurcussions if I resign?

3. If I resign can I collect unemployment and how would I handle this with a future employer?

Illegal sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. What was sexual about sharing a room with a member of the opposite sex?

Yes, your employer is required to investigate a complaint of sexual harassment from a third party.

Were you two room sharers simply co-workers or were you her supervisor? Why could she have thought declining this room arrangement would affect her job?

How frequently did you share a room? Does your company reimburse you for travel expenses? Do you submit expense reports? Wouldn't it be fairly obvious to anyone reviewing those, they you all were sharing a room?

If the practice is fairly typical in your company and you indicate that, any fair and thorough investigation would probably show that. I would imagine an investigation would also necessitate your former co-worker having to make a written statement.

You need to check your company's rules of conduct and its policy on sexual harassment, if it has one and see where you stand. You need to know how it defines sexual harassment and whether it has any prohibitions about employees sharing a room while traveling. Your travel arrangements might not be illegal sexual harassment, but might violate a company policy or rule.

I was her supervisor and the practice was not companywide but pretty much limited to our department as far as I know. I checked our company SA document and nothing appears to have been violated.

As far as receipts and expenses, yes I did turn those in. I have been told that b/c I made my own arrangements this could cause a problem. I made my own arrangements to save money, but all of my receipts are submitted at the end of the the month to the business office.

Last time we shared a room was this past November. I would say 4-5 times per year we would share. I did not see anything relative to sharing a room in oour company policy. The only thing I saw related to moral turpitude and I do not think this qualifies.

My co-worker wants nothing to do with the company as she was about a fed up with them as I. Can she be forced to making a statment if she does not want to?

Thanks

If they are investigating this practice, yes, they can "force" her to participate in the investigation. Why she wouldn't just give a simple, "we discussed the matter and didn't have a problem with sharing the room" is beyond me.

I will say that two employees of the opposite sex sharing a hotel room, particularly when one supervises the other, does not look good. As a practice it is not acceptable per most company's standards. Whether submitting the receipts counts a constructive knowledge that this was going on or not is a grey area. Saving money is one thing but sharing a hotel room with someone you supervise does present a great deal of liability to your employer and they have every right to look into it.

I see nothing to be gained by quitting because a practice you have engaged in is being reviewed. If you don't wish to work there ,it is your right to leave, but I would not count on UC.

How is this a 3rd party claim?