Workplace Misconduct hinders Female Agents from Professional Growth
Colorado – Danielle Marks, ex-FBI agent, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in the Denver U.S. District Court against the FBI and several male agents for subjecting her to sexual harassment and workplace discrimination. The sexual harassment lawsuit provided a rare entrance to examine workplace misconduct by male agents in a confidential work environment.
Marks alleged that male agents would harass female agents frequently. The sexual harassment included a high volume of sexual joking. The endless amount of sexual joking led a male agent, who also engaged in sexual remarks, to inquire about the “amount of zeroes” that would be present on a sexual harassment lawsuit in a jovial manner.
In addition to the consistent sexual harassment, the female agents endured, Mark alleged the FBI was discriminating against female agents. The discrimination Marks experienced appeared to be on the basis of gender considering Marks accused the FBI of “excluding” female agents from imperative investigations and omitting “wire-tap assignments” as a part of the female agents’ cases. Workplace discrimination occurred often, and that began to have a discomforting and discouraging effect on Marks. It is hard to grow professionally when individuals in the workplace do not believe you can handle certain tasks.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of color, race, religion, sex, gender, and national origin. The federal agency consistently enforces the law throughout workplaces. Marks also filed a sexual harassment complaint with Equal Employment Opportunity Affairs, EEOC, division in the FBI.
Marks alleged the intolerable sexual harassment and discrimination led to her to resign in September 2014, a year after experiencing continuous workplace discrimination. Mark said she was “under duress.” Reports does not indicate that the FBI department made any effort towards fixing the sexual harassment problem or changing the work patterns that produce workplace discrimination.
At the present time, Mark is seeking compensatory damages, back pay, and attorney fees, according to the sexual harassment lawsuit. Marks also requested to be “reinstated as an FBI agent.”
Women in the Workplace
Women in the work place continue to fight for equality. It is understood that women are not genetically designed or physically built to do everything men do, but in workplaces like the FBI, equality should never be an option.
Marks’ battle with sexual harassment and workplace discrimination could have been eliminated long ago if the FBI took the time to monitor the internal issues the same way they monitor external problems. Sexual harassment by male agents is not a part of their job description it is merely a choice.
Some men find satisfaction they’re missing in other parts of their life in sexually harassing the women in the workplace. As result of the sexual harassment pattern at work across the nation, the FBI should not expect anything less than a sexual harassment lawsuit every time the fail to protect and defend employees rights, especially in law enforcement.
Seek a Sexual Harassment Attorney
If you are a current or former employee in law enforcement who experienced discrimination and sexual harassment in New York City, Miami, New Jersey, or Philadelphia, contact a discrimination attorney or sexual harassment attorney in New York City, Miami, New Jersey, or Philadelphia at the Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC.
Our discrimination and sexual harassment attorneys are skilled and knowledgeable in both fields and certified to deliver excellent representation on your behalf inside and outside of the courtroom.
If you feel you have been the victim of workplace discrimination or sexual harassment in New York City, Miami, New Jersey or Philadelphia or if your employment rights have been violated, call us at 800-807-2209 for a free consultation.
