Women in Sexual Harassment Suit Get Important Victory

In Iowa and across the nation, greater attention is being paid to incidents in which workers are sexually harassed on the job. For many jobs that are frequently male-dominated, women who have worked in that environment have been subjected to offensive sexual comments, sexual innuendo, unwanted touching and more. This has been ongoing, regardless of any social movements to put an end to it. Many women have taken these issues to court. One case has given an important victory for female Iowa truck drivers who filed a class-action lawsuit about this treatment.

In the lawsuit, more than 100 female truckers complained about sexual harassment. A judge unsealed the documents of that case. With this release of documents, it was shown that the workers did not act appropriately to allegations of sexual harassment made by female workers. The plaintiffs say workers regularly took part in sexually harassing behaviors. They also made various threats, including violence and rape. And, they showed them their genitals and touched them.

When the women protested, they were threatened with retaliation, like misconduct reports, physical threats, being removed from trucks, negative rumors and not helping them when they needed it. The women say the men acted with no fear of consequences. One worker who complained to human resources, and is one of the plaintiffs, said that she was told it was her word against his. Others have similar stories.

Since truck driving remains a predominately male endeavor, women unfortunately regularly face this type of treatment. But, no one should be mistreated this way. When the employer ignores the complaint or responds with indifference, employees have the right to consider a legal filing. A legal professional with experience in helping employees who have been treated in this way can be of assistance in filing a sexual harassment lawsuit to be compensated.