Sexually Harrassed

[Amanda0651]

Hi! I am currently unemployed because my hell of boss was "looking" for anything and everything to fire me and he was successful. I really need some good advice as to what I should do. Here is the story:

Last year I started working for boss as a Data Entry person. He would always snap at me but then later would come back with a joke to ease things. I have always worked in a professional environment and did not know what to think when my boss started making jokes to me like "you want to suck what...where" and laugh. I just blew it off because I was there to do a job and that was it. He always made jokes like that with some of the other employees in the department so I did not let it get to me too bad.

Then there was this one day he came up upon me really close and it made me feel uncomfortable as he started laughing and I told him in a nervous laughing matter to stop being silly. Before that he sent me an e-mail of a girl giving a guy a blow job. I was so embarressed that I deleted the e-mail. Because not even one of my friends has even sent anything like that to me in a joking way. I just though if I did my job he would leave me alone. Some time after that e-mail there were two co-workers and my boss standing around talking and one of them invited me into the converstation. My boss says I need some cigerattes and a soda who wants to go get it for me. I looked at him like Not Me! He takes the money out of his pocket and puts it down my shirt and says you can get it. I laughed embarrassingly as he made a comment about how soft my breasts were.

I never reported any of this to anyone because I was afraid to loose my job because he was the type of man if you defied him he was coming after you. Well, he is a very egoistic man almost a God-Complex like personality. That brings me to when I asked for a raise because I was doing more in my job than just Data Entry....A LOT MORE! The human resources director agreed with my raise and told me I would get it soon. I was told I would receive it in January.

My boss went on Vacation for a week and left me in charge of the department. I did a great job everyone said that my boss was impressed. But from there that is when I noticed things changing between him and I. He started being harder on me and snapping on me in front of employees and just when I was by myself. I ended up in counseling over all of this because the stress was getting to me so bad.

I ended up getting in a head in collision right before christmas...it totalled my SUV. SO I had to buy a new car...Had too. I just bought a small decent priced car with a warranty. Nothing Fancy. I noticed he was not to keen that I bought a new car. My thinking was that he thought I was going to get that raise so I could afford it. That was not my thinking at all. I figured my car payment into the money I was making at the time.

Well January came and I did not get the promotion but he said that he would give it to me later. I although did get a small increase not the increase that was discussed. When I expressed that this was not what we had discussed back in September he did not seem too like that too much and wrote me up for being on my cell phone while I was dealing with a personal family matter. I deserved that one and even told HR that I did. But he waited 3 days to write me up and treated me like hell during those few days. He did not talk to me for a week after that write up because I mentioned that he was talking down to me during those few days and HR just took up for him...as usual they always take the bosses side....That is another reason I did not every go say anything to HR.

Not even a month later I was suspended for getting into my purse and looking at my checkbook...took less than a minute. I went right back to work. I was told both times I was written up that I do great work. Then I came back from my suspension for one day and he was looking for ways to fire me and did. So with that said there is so much more...What can I do...They are fighting my unemployment and I am left with a new car payment...and bills like everyone else. What can I do to fight back so he does not treat anyone else like this....There is more to this story but I do not want to burden anyone with anymore. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP! I do not know where to turn or what to do. I am at a whim here.

[cbg]

Since you did not report the sexual harassment, your termination cannot be in retaliation for that. That being the case, nothing I can see in your post makes your termination illegal. Your employer has the right to contest your unemployment, just as you have the right to appeal a decision that goes against you. The right is absolute on both sides. The state, not your employer, will make the final decision.

However, if it has not been 180 days since the last instance of the sexual harassment, you can still file a complaint on that. I have to warn you that your credibility is not going to be as good as it could be since you didn't report anything until after you were fired, and it could be made to look as if YOU were retaliating. It is illegal to fire or take any adverse action against someone for reporting sexual harassment; you would have had legal recourse if you had complained and been fired, demoted, or otherwise harassed because of it. As it is, your timing is about as bad as it could possibly be. But you do have that right.