Law Group Sued for Sexual Harassment by Former Attorney
Portland, OR- A lawsuit A former attorney for the Day Law Group alleges she was forced to quit her job because her boss, prominent Oregon attorney Ross Day, repeatedly sent her erotic emails and often talked about the steamy novel “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
Andrea Meyer filed her lawsuit against the Day Law Group and is seeking $450,000 in compensation for lost wages and emotional distress, according to the Oregonian.
According to the suit Meyer worked at the Day Law Group with no issues until December of last year when Day began to sexually harass her. The innuendos and harassment began when the two had to travel out of town for a trial. While on the trip Meyer’s lawsuit alleges Day told her he would leave his hotel room unlocked if she had any questions. Things went downhill after that.
After the trip, Day continued to sexually harass Meyer through erotic emails—one of which detailed a workplace affair– he sent to her anonymously. Another email contained a video which was apparently too explicit for her to stomach. Meyer was able to deduce Day was sending the explicit emails by tracing the IP address back to him.
He also suggested that her husband did not appreciate her, the Oregonian reported.
She confronted him and asked him to stop sending the emails. But, because of Day’s harassment she was forced to quit her job on May 2nd, the Oregonian reported.
The Oregonian reported the Day previously represented a legislative aide who accused Rep. Matt Wingard, (R-Wilsonville) or coercing her into a sexual relationship in 2010. One would think Day would no better than to sexually harass one his own employees.
Why bosses or coworkers sexually harass others is not clear, especially the ones who are completely aware of the legal ramifications like Day. But many sexual harassment attorneys and experts believe that sexual harassment has more to do with power than it does sex and many perpetrators are just exploiting their position. Though there is typically a sexual desire component involved.
Many harassers have the misguided notion that there is nothing wrong with their behavior or that they can get away with it. They may be hoping that the target of their inappropriate behavior will ignore it and, in fact, many men and women do, mainly out of fear they will face retaliation. Or, their employers will think the allegations are frivolous or the employee is being overly sensitive and won’t bother to investigate.
As a result, many incidents of sexual harassment go unaddressed until the behavior gets so bad the employee suffers embarrassment and anxiety. This can lead to long-term physical and mental health issues.
In many cases, a victim sees quitting as their only option to ending their harassment, but this is not the case. Victims of sexual harassment need to understand they don’t have to put up with it, and can enlist the help of a sexual harassment attorney to put an end to their troubles.
