Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in West Virginia

have I been sexually harrassed ??

I am an adult entertainer in the west virginia area. my boss(the owner of the club) made sexual remarks to me during operating hours with customers and other employees present. I quit that night. He also owes me back wages. Is there anything I can do ?


Asked on 7/24/99, 1:48 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: have I been sexually harrassed ??

1. Back wages: generally there is a local labor board you can complain to and they would see to it that you got paid your last check. I'm in Massachusetts and I don't know your state's local labor procedures, unfortunately.

2. Sexual harassment claims are based usually on Federal law. Let me find out what you are talking about to help properly pigeonhole your situation within the various laws that cover the subject. a) Were his comments to you embarassing because they were made in front of others? (By the way, would existing other employees be willing to testify against him if they were subpoena'd? Not likely!) Was this one occasion, the first occasion, the worst so far at that time, or just the last straw of many different such occasions? c) Were his comments in any way demands for you to have sex with him? d) If demands, was there any implied threat that you would fail to be (somehow) promoted if you didn't comply? e) Would you say that his generally lewd behaviour set a tone for the entire place that made it hard to do your work?

3. Wait a minute; what IS your work? "Adult entertainer" is too vague for me and is perhaps a regional colloquialism because we don't use the term in Boston. Are you a stripper? A dancer? A table-dancer or lap-dancer? Are you in an area of the country that has legalized prostitution? In any case, what do you do?

For that matter, since I'm asking anyway, what exactly did he say to you?

This is a very tricky area and possibly a new frontier in the law if not in social consciousness. Guys go to the bar for low-level sexual stimulation, and women go there to supply that, but it doesn't mean they have to be subjected to lewd comments, especially not from the management.

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Answered on 7/26/99, 5:11 pm


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