Infamous Sexual Harassment Lawsuits

The country experienced a proliferation in sexual harassment complaints and lawsuits during the 1990’s. To add to the infamy, many of these cases involved high-profile personalities. Around this time, more laws were enacted to further strengthen the protection against sexual predators. Nowadays, employees of different characteristics and profile get help from Los Angeles Harassment Attorney to help with their sexual harassment claims.

Here are three sexual harassment lawsuits that can only be described as notorious, ground-breaking, and downright bizarre.

Bill Clinton v. Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones

One of the biggest presidential scandals to date is the alleged affair between former president Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Because of this scandal, Clinton had to face an impeachment trial. However, even before he became the president, Clinton had earlier faced sexual harassment accusations. When he was still the governor of Arkansas, he allegedly propositioned and exposed himself to state employee Paula Jones in a hotel in Little Rock. Jones sued the former president for sexual harassment.

Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services

Joseph Oncale is a male oil rigger in a platform near the Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit stated that Oncale was “sodomized, threatened, and humiliated by the members of the crew.” Despite his complaints, no action was taken against the alleged harassers. He eventually quit the job and asked to have sexual harassment and verbal abuse be noted down as the reasons for his voluntary quitting. He filed a lawsuit against the crew but the Eastern Louisiana District Court held that Oncale is not covered by the legislation against sexual harassment because of his gender. The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court and a 1998 ruling declared that harassment in the workplace can happen between members of the same sex.

Tong v. Jiang – S.A.C. Capital Advisors, LLC

S.A.C. Capital Advisors, a major hedge-fund company, was rocked by a scandal in 2007 that stunned even Wall Street. A former employee, Andrew Tong, filed a lawsuit against his supervisor Ping Jiang, claiming that Jiang forced him to take female hormones and wear female clothing in order to suppress Tong’s aggressive male attitude and become a “more obedient and detail-oriented player,” as reported by the New York Times. S.A.C. Capital Advisors and Jiang denied the charges and have not reached a settlement with Tong.

Remember that sexual harassment and other kinds of employee discrimination can happen to anyone, so it’s best to seek advice from a Los Angeles Employment Lawyer to know the proper procedure of settling a sexual harassment complaint or lawsuit.