Megyn Kelly – No One Should Be Harassed in the Workplace

Megyn Kelly claims (According to Cosmopolitan) she was sexually harassed over a decade ago by Roger Ailes the Chairman and CEO of FOX. She claims the harassment began when she was a new correspondent with the network.

Kelly the “bucking anchor” according to Variety said in a post on June 22, 2015 , “Megyn Kelly is bucking the conventional wisdom of what it means to be a  Fox News anchor. The take-no-prisoners newswoman isn’t afraid to throw hardballs at Republicans. She recently lectured Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul over his penchant for arguing with female reporters. She poked Jeb Bush about whether he would have invaded Iraq in 2003….”

Furthemore the story states, ” Kelly, 44, a former corporate litigator who continues to gain prominence

at the country’s biggest news network,…”

Corporate Litigation as defined by  Tobin O’Co nno r & Ewing

Corporate litigation encompasses a lot more than one business suing another.  In fact, corporate litigation includes any type of legal proceeding having anything to do with a business or corporation, and can include steps taken to avoid litigation as well as actually litigating and managing business disputes.

In general, corporate litigation involves a whole host of tort and contract issues. But with Sarbanes-Oxley and other recent regulations aimed at increasing public scrutiny of business and corporate practices, corporate litigation has come to include dealing with federal regulators and ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations, as well.

Skilled business litigators are equipped to handle every legal problem a corporation may face over the course of its life, such as the following:

• Ensuring compliance with wage and hour and anti-discrimination laws
• Defending companies against wrongful termination suits
• Securing compliance with new accounting and corporate governance regulations
• Litigating or mediating shareholder-derivative lawsuits
• Managing corporate tax compliance
• Settling labor disputes with unionized workforces as well as with at-will employees and professionals
• Breach of contract issues, usually with other businesses, whether defending or prosecuting
• Tort issues, if a customer or client suffers injury from one of your products or services
• Corporate real estate issues, from premises liability to disputes with landlords or regulators

F a c t s A b o u t S e x u a l H a r a s s m e n t

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the federal government.

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

• The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
• The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
• Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
• The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.

It is helpful for the victim to inform the harasser directly that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.

When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, EEOC looks at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.

Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by providing sexual harassment training to their employees and by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.

It is also unlawful to retaliate against an individual for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on sex or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under Title VII.

Note: The Supreme Court issued two major decisions in June of 1998 that explained when employers will be held legally responsible for unlawful harassment by supervisors. The EEOC’s Guidance on Employer Liability for Harassment by Supervisors examines those decisions and provides practical guidance regarding the duty of employers to prevent and correct  harassment  and the  duty of employees  to avoid harassment  by using their employers’ complaint procedures.

 

 

 

F i l i n g a C l a i m

EEO Process – The Department’s Harassing Conduct Policy is not intended to replace an employee’s EEO rights. An employee may pursue claims of harassing conduct through both avenues simultaneously. To learn more about your EEO rights, please contact an EEO Counselor or visit CRC’s web page at http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/crc/index.htm. Contact the Civil Rights Center at 202-693-6500 within 45 days of the alleged discriminatory event in order to preserve your right to file an EEO complaint. Any questions on this guidance should also be addressed to the Department of Labor’s Civil Rights Center.

Comments & Questions

1. In this century with the accusations of Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton and Thomas Clarence why would Megyn Kelly present her claim a decade later?
2. As a former corporate litigator did she not know the rules, the law regarding sexual harassment in the workplace?
3. Did Megyn Kelly have ulterior prompted and tailored by the powers that be at Fox to create a scandal to have Roger resign?
4. Did Fox Network refuse to provide and employee handbook to Megyn?
5. Did she not read it?
6. Does Fox “NOT” have a “Workplace Harassment Policy”?
7. Fox’s culture in the workplace provide guidelines on, “How to Succeed at Fox” a few of the guidelines are:

• Work Hard
• Seek Opportunities
• Be Proactive
• The Golden Rule

Perhaps Megyn Kelly did work very hard at seeking an opportunity and timed her proactive/reactiveness to “Do Unto Others as They Have Done Unto You.”

MsConcerned

 

References

https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fs-sex.cfm

Sexual Harassment Charges EEOC & FEPAs Combined: FY 1997 – 2011

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/megyn-kelly-fox-news-star-anchor-republicans-hillary-clinton-

1201524340/