my Erin Blakely says she was fired for being too sensual. This case is remniscent of the high-profile case involving Citibank's Debrahlee Lorenzana, a Manhattan Banker who alleges she was fired for being too beautiful. Are big breasts and form-fitting dresses too hot too handle in the workplace?
In another case that made national headlines, not because celebrity attorney to the stars, Gloria Allred, was retained, but because women are becoming victims of workplace harassment due to the way they are dressing. Or, is it because, something is in the air that is causing a bed-room starved male peer-group on the job to emerge?
Amy Erin Blakely recently retained Allred and filed a lawsuit against her employer, The Devereux Foundation, the nation's largest non-profit that supports children's issues, for being too sensual. The 13-year employee claims she has been the subject of vile remarks for the last six years, and has took actions to complain and stop the offensive and unwanted behavior, to no avail.
Although she has received numerous awards and promotions, the unwanted behavior began in 2003 after she was promoted to assistant executive director of operations at the Florida location. Amy Erin Blakely contends that she was fired for being too sensual and that she was told her breasts were "too big".
"It was really a nightmare, because every day I had great trepidation and fear that I was going to be humiliated," Erin said to a television station in Florida.
Erin and attorney Gloria Allred allege that when she could not tolerate the sexual harassment any longer she complained, as the policy stipulates, due to their "zero-tolerance policy" on sexual harassment. However, in doing so, it resulted in Amy Erin Blakely being fired? Was it really because she was too sensual?
"The first one was inappropriately investigated and I was reprimanded for that," she said. "The second grievance was followed by me being terminated the next morning."
The Devereux Foundation released this statement in response to Amy Erin Blakely's claim that she was fired for being "too sensual":
"We have a deep and abiding respect for women in our organization. As evidenced by the fact that more than 50 percent of our senior leadership team is female."
Sexual harassment is always a tough complaint to substantiate, as it usually is based on sketchy evidence subject to perception, and one's word against the other. The burden of proof is largely on the accuser who typically has to show conclusive evidence that they were subjected to unwanted behavior, over time, and they made every attempt to stop the offender. Sadly, many cases are dismissed as soon as the Discovery process takes place in litigation. Was Amy Erin Blakely fired for being too sensual, or could there be something else amiss?
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