Honest Trailers sued for not so honest sexual harassment
Los Angeles, CA – Screen Junkie’s CEO Andy Signore has been fired after multiple women came forward with claims of sexual harassment against the Streamy Award winner. Defy Media, the production company behind Honest Trailers, is now facing several claims of sexual harassment, hostile work environment, quid pro quo sexual harassment and retaliation in connection with over five former female employees and interns complaints against Signore.
Emmas Bowers, a former intern for Signore, and April Dawn, a girlfriend of one of his employees, made very public statements detailing the sexual harassment they had suffered at the hands of the Signore. Bowers took to Twitter, posting an inflammatory message describing her disturbing incidents with Signore.
In her statement, Bowers describes an incident where Signore told her that he wanted to jack off to her, stating that she could “read a book for all I care” while he sexually assaulted his intern. Signore further stated “you must think I’m so silly ‘lol jacking it to you in your undies.’” Bowers eventually quit the internship once she became frightened of Signore, to which he replied “wow. THAT’S professional of you.” Later, Signore attempted to apologize for his actions, telling Bowers “I’m so sorry!! Me and my wife were fighting!! I was drunk!!” hoping that would absolve him of his abhorrent sexual joking.
After Bowers’ post, April Dawn took to twitter to recount her story. Dawn’s boyfriend had worked at Screen Junkies and Signore held that over her head when he threatened her boyfriend’s job unless she performed sexual favors for him. Dawn describes and incident where Signore took out sex toys and tried to force them inside of her, and he took pictures of her without her permission. What’s most concerning is Screen Junkie’s instinctual circling of the wagons around Signore when April brought her complaints. She made several attempts to contact Screen Junkie’s HR in an effort to correct Signore’s behavior, however, her requests fell upon deaf ears.
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Screen Junkie’s behavior constitutes classic quid pro quo sexual harassment. Quid Pro Quo sexual harassment is defined as an employer predicating job benefits on acquiescing to an employer’s sexual requests. These unwanted sexual requests usually come from a boss on a person in a position of power. However, a co-worker can commit quid pro quo sexual harassment through a system of sexual favors for job benefits, such as covering someone’s shift. If an employee reports sexual harassment by either a boss or a co-worker and the employer does not correct the behavior than that employer is liable for the sexually harassing conduct.
New York City Human Rights Law goes slightly further than the Federal law. Under NYCHRL’s “supervisory liability doctrine” if the sexually harassing or discriminatory conduct is being performed by a supervisor, than the NYCHRL imputes knowledge of the sexually harassing behavior on the employer as a whole. Under both the federal and city law, Signore’s sexually harassing conduct directed toward Bowers, Dawn and the other young ladies, constitutes employment discrimination, sex discrimination, gender discrimination and sexual harassment.
The New York City Sexual harassment attorneys at the Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC, have years of experience litigating claims of sexual harassment and employment discrimination. Working closely with our Philadelphia sexual harassment attorneys, we have received over six figure settlements for our clients who were the victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. If you feel you have been sexually harassed in the workplace, please give our attorneys a call, toll free- at 1877 4NYLAWS, for your free consultation.
Call today to schedule a FREE sexual harassment or employment discrimination legal Consultation in NY, NJ & PA with one of our top rated employment law or sexual harassment attorneys here at the Derek Smith Law Group. You can reach us online or by calling . Our New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia labor & employment law attorneys handle a variety of cases involving sexual harassment, racial discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and other employment-related claims. We serve clients throughout New York, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. We also have offices in New Jersey and Philadelphia to serve you.
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