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| Center for American Progress Action Fund/Flickr CC |
Shamed San Diego
Mayor Bob Filner is taking a leave of absence after the city council denied him
in a 9-0 vote to pay his legal fees. A
law suit has been filed against the mayor his former communications manager,
who claims that he asked her to come to work without wearing panties. Filner’s lawyer Harvey Berger argued that Filner
never received the state mandated sexual harassment training while he was
serving as a congressman from 1993 to 2012.
While the lawsuit is the only recent evidence of sexual harassment from
Bob Filner, several other women have come forward to say they were also treated
inappropriately by the politician.
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| Christopher Leonard/Flickr CC |
Sexual harassment is
banned as discrimination by title seven of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law applies to any organization with 15
or more employees, as well as any government office. Defined as unwelcome sexual advances,
requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature, sexual harassment can create intimidating or hostile work environments. The harasser and victim can be of either gender
and hold any position in the work place, including nonemployees. The harassment does not have to have a
financial impact on the victim for it to be unlawful.
Berger says that Filner
likely would not be facing a lawsuit now if he had received the training he
was supposed to. The sexual harassment
training had been scheduled but canceled and had never been able to attend
another class. The letter from Filner’s
lawyer also said that in his experience there is a good reason to make sure
people receive the training, as many do not understand what sexual harassment
is or how it can be harmful. The city of
San Diego, however, disagreed that it was liable and in addition to refusing
covering costs for defense, also filed suit against Filner for damages to the
city if he loses the sexual harassment suit.
The city has a zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment, and most of
the city council has called for Filner’s resignation.
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