Well I was fired today big shocker

[mayalevi]

Employers are required by law to follow up on any claims of sexual harassment, seeing as they can be held liable for a hostile work environment or worse. As many others have said, you need to take this up with EEOC ASAP. Also, be sure you have documented dates and times. In case it take you longer than planned to find employment(esp. in this economy), you will want to be able to have unemployment, so better to start this process sooner, rather than later.

[MaryleeII]

Originally Posted by lostinca

Thank you very much that is great advice. I am already taking them to the labor board because they do not let you take a break during your shift, and I am making sure that disability knows that there is a lack of any handicap access or a elevator for the second story.
The sad thing is because of my prior job, and the fact that I was part time I still receive a portion of my unemployment, I actually made almost $2 more an hour so I have that. I took the job because of the "having to have a job to get a job"I am scared that my unemployment will be cancelled for being fired I need to make that phone call tomorrow.

If you file a complaint with EEOC, that "checkmates" it. Also, you can collect UE if fired, as long as its not for "gross misconduct", not just committing a mistake. The thing you have to remember is, you can't collect UE if you QUIT, which you didn't.

[jmellc]

Along with all this, I'd like to point out that sexual harassment can also depend on the environment & nature of work you do. Some things can be crude, but not harassment. Some things can be polished & smooth but be harassment at its finest.

I have worked in offices and construction, 2 entirely different arenas. In the office, a man telling a woman she has a big butt would usually be harassment. In construction, not necessarily so. I worked with a woman who was somewhat plump. She was going up on ladders, through ceiling grids to install conduit. She bent a few pieces of grid. A guy told her, "with your big butt, you can't keep tools in a back pocket, they keep catching on the grid & damaging it". She got furious & accused him of harassment. She & I got along pretty well so I found a moment with her later & told her she was on the wrong road. She reluctantly agreed. If he had come behind her and patted her butt or made comments about it exciting him, that would be harassment. These guys are usually more open with crude jokes too. Bad taste & manners but not necessarily harassment. Some of the women in construction are pretty crude too. In fact, a butch I used to work with bragged to the men that she got more chances to look up skirts than they did.

My last years in the office, sexual harassment was a topic in nearly every meeting of any sort. Women were upset about men addressing them as "honey", "darling", "sweetheart", etc. But women themselves did a lot of that, especially women from rural backgrounds. They were often the worst offenders. I brought that up in a meeting & the woman heading it up said it had not been brought to her attention. I said I never liked it, had always been taught these were terms for husband & wife or sometimes their children. After that, when any woman associate used those terms on the phone with me, I'd cut them off & ask them to cut the terms of endearment; that men were being told not to do it & I didn't like it either. Working in construction, I reminded a few guys that it was crude to use those terms with women at eating places, the office, etc. They already complained that some women out & around were "too good to talk to us construction workers" . I told them that had little to do with it, that if they were a bit more civilized they would not be brushed off.

I would sometimes round a corner in the office & get a direct view of a female crotch. A woman in a short skirt would be on a low filing stool, legs open & filing papers. 1st time or 2, it caught me off guard & I stared a moment longer than I should have. Nothing came of it, but some women would have called that harassment. Leaving something wide open and expecting a man not to notice it is folly.

A guy in the office watching every move a woman makes is a form of harassment whether it is easily noticed or not. I think most women would eventually notice it and not like it. Asking her out while at work is harassment if she reports to him. Pressures her to decide if declining him would hurt her job status.

[lostinca]

Again thank you everyone for the replies they are helpful, I honestly am learning as I go along exactly how to do all of these things, I guess I have been lucky and I haven't had any problems like this before so the advice is appreciated.
Thankfully I was on the phone with EEOC the minute they opened up this morning at 8:30 and there was already a 33 minute wait time but I did get thru and began the claim, I need to print the forms and fax them to my local EEOC office as well as the labor board forms. Kinkos will become my second home (I don't have a fax so it's easiest to go there). My best advice is is anyone has a problem go to the EEOC immediately because you only have a certain amount of time (thankfully I am right in the correct time but barely).
We shall see what happens, I just want my previous employer to never be able to treat anyone the way that they treated me.