My son has been accused at work for sexually harrassing a coworker. He has not done this. He is in a relationship with his girlfriend+they are happy. My son is very upset. He's not shared this with anyone. His employer will not allow him back to work or o

Need help directing my son who's been falsely accused of sexually harrassing a female co-worker. He has not done or said anything. His boss has told him to not come back to work until after investigation. He was asked to leave while working and to have no contact with other employees and remain off of the property until after investigation. Please RSVP as to what he should do to keep his job. How and what should my son do next?

1 answer  |  asked Mar 5, 2018 9:44 PM [EST]  |  applies to Pennsylvania

Answers (1)

Harold Goldner
Unless he is in a union, your son is an employee at will who can be fired at any time for a good reason, bad reason, or no reason whatsoever. If it's a legitimate claim of harassment, he can expect to be disciplined or undergo training at best and fired at worst. If it isn't and they do a decent investigation, he should be cleared.

Sexual harassment is not about sex. Sexual harassment has nothing to do with whether the alleged harasser is in a happy relationship or not; it's about power, and the harasser frequently is blissfully unaware of the effect of his (or her) actions constituting harassment.

While your son (not you) might do well to discuss the matter with an attorney, it's probably too early for one to offer any assistance at this point.

posted by Harold Goldner  |  Mar 6, 2018 08:18 AM [EST]

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