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Texas employee claims retaliation after her harassment complaint

On Behalf of | Jul 29, 2013 | Employment Disputes |

A customer service manager has filed a suit against the Kroger Texas store chain in which she claims she was the victim of retaliation. The suit claims that a co-worker at the Kroger Northwest Houston location had made unwanted and aggressive sexual advances. When she complained to management about the co-worker’s harassment, she was told that all she could do to remedy the situation would be to transfer to another store location.

Management’s recommended remedy was, however, not without hardship. She objected to the idea of transferring to the other store location as it was far from where she lived and she was part of a one-car family. She did, however, eventually end up at the new store location.

According to the plaintiff, she found herself undergoing several disciplinary actions at the new store. In her suit, she alleges that these actions were in retaliation for having made the complaint against her co-worker at the previous store location. The woman claims that the actions taken against her have caused her to suffer severe emotional and psychological trauma.

The Texas woman has requested a trial by jury in her lawsuit against the store chain. Employees should never be made to feel uncomfortable or threatened by retaliation or hardship when they report what they feel to be on-the-job sexual harassment. When complaints go unheeded by management, however, the employee should seriously consider seeking outside and knowledgeable advice and assistance rather than simply ‘going along with’ an employer’s not taking effective and realistic action to remedy the offensive situation.

Source: 

The Southeast Texas Record, “Kroger employee says store retaliated against her in wake of sexual harassment complaints,” John Suayan, July 23, 2013

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