And the winner for most bizarre employment law case …
June 25, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: EEOC, Harassment, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
Consider yourself lucky: At least none of your managers have ever been accused of causing a male employee to start wearing women’s clothes.
The EEOC recently looked into a sexual harassment charge against Wall Street firm SAC Capital. A former employee claimed his boss forced him to take female hormones (apparently, to help him do his job better). That caused him to start wearing women’s clothes at the office and damaged his relationship with his wife.
The company denied the allegations (duh). The EEOC stepped in to investigate last year.
The investigation has now been dropped. According to the EEOC, the agency was “unable to conclude that the information obtained establishes violations of the statutes.” In other words, they aren’t buying the guy’s story.
The employee now has the option to sue on his own, though we don’t know if the suit will get very far. Stranger things have certainly happened, and it’s always possible the EEOC was wrong. We’ll let you know if the guy gets his day in court.
Tags: EEOC, hormones, SAC Capital, sexual harassment
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:30 am
Did I miss something? How would female hormones help a guy to do his job better? Why did he “have to” start wearing women’s clothes? Is this a joke?
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Huh? I guess I have to agree - this is one of the most bizarre…
I think this guy must be a bit confused, is feeling ashamed of it, and is looking for someone to take the blame. Sad.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
It takes all kinds. I do agree with Beth. Very Sad…
Hopefully, the courts do not take this seriously as it will reflect badly on our court system.
Too bad the EEOC had to waste time on it in the first place. Some people should be fined for making false accusations and wasting our governments time!
August 13th, 2008 at 11:37 am
To Trena response - to have someone fined for making an accusations (even if later it is determined to be false) would put a chilling effect on the equal employment opportunity complaint process and this is what the EEOC has continously worked toward a process where everyone believes they’ll get a fair chance at being heard. I don’t know how the employee could allege that his boss made him take female horomones - what did the manager do force feed the employee the pills. And then there may be something else going on here that suppose to be secret to the both of them. I think the employee in this story should seek some professional help - his alternate personality is coming out of the closet.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:39 am
In order to begin to evaluate the merits of this case, it must be determined exactly what is meant by being “made to take” any medication by anyone except a doctor. Was a suggestion made, a prescription given to the employee, the actual medication, what? When this is determined, then the rest of the claim can be sorted out.
October 31st, 2008 at 11:38 am
Wow! This is really extreme.