Posted on 03/05/2010 8:39:23 PM PST by Neil E. Wright
By Sam Hananel
March 5, 2010
John Pilkington's boss wouldn't take no for an answer.
During more than two years as a food runner at an upscale steakhouse in Scottsdale, Arizona, Pilkington says his male supervisor groped, fondled and otherwise sexually harassed him more than a dozen times.
"It was very embarrassing,'' Pilkington said. "I felt like I had to do something because the situation was just so bad.''
Now Pilkington, a married father of two, is the star witness in a U.S. federal lawsuit against Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and one of a growing number of American men claiming they are victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.
From 1990 to 2009, the percentage of sexual harassment claims filed by men has doubled from 8 percent to 16 percent, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Lawyers at the commission say they've noticed the increase in complaints by men -- more than 2,000 were filed in 2009 out of about 12,700 cases.
"It's certainly possible that there's more sexual harassment of men going on, but it could just be that more men are coming forward and complaining about it,'' said Ernest Haffner, an attorney in the commission's Office of Legal Counsel.
While some cases allege harassment by female supervisors or co-workers, most charges involve men harassing other men. Sometimes it's unwelcome romantic advances. Other times, men are picked on because they are gay, perceived as being gay or not considered masculine enough for the work setting.
In the past, some employers might have shrugged off such antics as "boys will be boys'' horseplay or fraternity-type behavior. But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been filing more lawsuits involving male victims, saying it wants to send a message that such behavior is unacceptable and unlawful.
In November, for example, the Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain agreed to pay $345,000 to six male employees who claimed they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by a group of male kitchen staffers at a Phoenix-area restaurant.
The commission said the abusers would drag some victims kicking and screaming into a walk-in refrigerator, touching and grinding against the victims' genitals and take turns simulating rape. The company denied the allegations but agreed to make a financial settlement and educate its employees and managers about sexual harassment.
Susan Strauss, a consultant who advises companies about how to avoid sexual harassment in the workplace, said she's seeing more cases in which men are subject to a sexualized form of hazing.
"If you don't fit the masculine stereotype or are viewed as effeminate, you get picked on in a sexual way to demean you,'' Strauss said.
Cases involving women making unwanted advances toward men may also be rising as women make up a growing part of the work force. Last year, the Regal Entertainment Group, which operates a national chain of movie theaters, agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a lawsuit by a male employee who claimed a female co-worker repeatedly grabbed his crotch at work.
When the employee complained to his supervisor and the theater's then-general manager, he claims, she failed to stop the harassment and instead retaliated with unfair discipline and lower performance evaluations.
The number of cases filed by men has grown steadily since a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1998 held that same-sex harassment is a valid claim under federal anti-discrimination laws. That ruling involved an offshore oil rig worker who said he was subject to humiliating sex-related treatment by other workers, including being sodomized in the shower with a bar of soap.
In Pilkington's case, he claims the restaurant's chef would grope and pinch his genitals or grab his backside when Pilkington walked to the kitchen or stock room. Despite his complaints to the restaurant's operating partner, he says the conduct didn't stop.
After one incident, Pilkington lost his composure and yelled at the chef. Days later, he was fired -- an action he claims was retaliation for his complaints. An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit on behalf of Pilkington and three other current and former employees is pending.
"I think maybe it's just harder for males to come out and file a complaint because of how embarrassing it is,'' Pilkington said. "When I talk about it I get this nauseous feeling in my stomach.''
The restaurant has denied the charges. In a statement, the company that owns Fleming's said the restaurant "has always been committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace free of harassment for all of its associates.''
Many victims are hesitant to come forward because they are afraid of being considered unmanly or being derided by co-workers, said Mary Jo O'Neill, a regional attorney in the EEOC's Phoenix District office.
"All sexual harassment victims feel humiliated, lacking control and power,'' O'Neill said. "This has a different twist because everyone expects that they would be able to handle it and take care of it themselves.''
Homosexuals who demand unaliable rights which as Americans they already have are only a small limb on the tree of socialism.
They will never stop, there’s a sailor who got railroaded into prison by S.F. homos in power after he was sexually assaulted by one of their ilk, this is our future if we don’t start pushing back.
The little pansy allowed this to go on for more than two years?
A REAL MAN would have knocked this guy on his little faggoty...ahem..."gay" arse and told him where he could stick the job (if there was anymore room up there).
I’m just tweaking someone who is wrapped too tight
I think calling them “sexual pervets” or “sodomites” is pretty good. For public use I generally use “homosexual” although that is also a propaganda term invented by a sodomite in Germany in the 19th century, as described in “The Pink Swastika”, to culitvate a sense of special community. Now “gay” is the preferred propaganda term.
I lived in the Bay Area. They call themselves “faggots” and more.
I don’t care what they’re called; their practices are filthy and are crimes against nature and God and society. Calling them “rude” names is nothing - NOTHING - compared to what they do, and the demoniac agenda they’re pushing all over the world. They want to destroy human civilization and change the entire world into their disgusting whorehouse.
Using the word “fag” is nothing. The crime is the homosexual agenda.
Sorry to disagree with you, Global, but the truth is the truth. The sides are being drawn. They play dirty - very dirty - and they are gaining ground. Futzing about terminology is not the way to fight their agenda.
” The little pansy allowed this to go on for more than two years?
A REAL MAN would have knocked this guy on his little faggoty...ahem...”gay” arse and told him where he could stick the job (if there was anymore room up there).”
And then that “REAL MAN” would end up in prison for a few years for felony Battery, with hate crime enhancements.
This way is better, use the legal system which has been so perverted(pun intentional) by the feminists and so on, to their own detriment.
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I can see men being afraid to complain about homosexuals harassing them at work or in the military because homosexuals are a protected class, and if plenty of the higher-ups are homosexuals, then what protection do they have? If they fight back or make accusations, what happens? They're accused of "hate crimes" or "hate speech".
The solution is that homosexuality be legally recognized as what it has been throughout history - a mental and spiritual sickness and a crime against nature.
I guess that's one of the major differences between me and you Mr. Inviso: I could go to prison knowing that I did what was right.
You on the other hand could put up with 2 years of humilation, knowing that every American's dream (to win a lawsuit) waited for you at the end of the "rainbow". (Pun intended).
Actually, I would not have put up with it. I would have quit on the spot. I would not,however, be so stupid as to let the clown have the pleasure of seeing me rot in prison.
Knowing what you did was right is small comfort if you are spending time behind bars,especially with the kind of “sexual harassment” that happens THERE.
In this case, though I DO see the point of filing lawsuits against the harasser. I applaud the turning of the tables, without having to give further ammunition to those who constantly bring up “gay-bashing”, “homophobia” and all the rest of it.
I've known Neil E. Wright for some 13 years and worked with him on many worthwhile projects. I can guarantee you that this is an anomaly in his postings and demeanor. But I can also understand why he is so angry. So am I that our inherent rights and liberties and our moral compass are deteriorating at such an accelerated pace. There is a breaking point for all of us.
Besides, I agree. Open FAGs (yeah, I used the word...less letters, har!) have no place on a ship at sea. It will be a morale killer at the very least, at worse, detrimental to the mission.
Give the guy a break. He served honorably and has fought the good fight for years toward Constitutional restoration. Plus, he likes to have some brewskies now and again. I've posted inane crap on this board after having a few myself. He's always been very even-keeled. So write this one off as just venting, if you will.
Here’s a scenario: You, a male, are sexually assaulted by another male and you take action and punch him in the nose.
A woman is sexually assaulted by a male and punches him in the nose.
The man goes to jail for it, the woman is applauded.
Guess what that would make the man?: a political prisoner.
Lawsuits aren’t going to change something that is inherantly evil: (homosexuality). Nor are lawsuits going to teach God’s word (do unto others). If you really want to play by the rules, file a police report.
Wouldn’t ya know it Mr. Inviso; no sooner than I reply to this post, something similar happens to me (with totally different circumstances though).
I’m going to start a thread entitled “Send” or “Delete”?
Look for it later today, I’d like your vote and opinion.
Since Neil has never, since I’ve known him (and that would be all HIS life), been a Catholic, your embarrassment would seem to be self-inflicted. Now granted, when he was a mere slip of a youth of a child, he was kinda creepy, but he grew out of it and became pretty much a likable human being.
YOU, on the other hand...
Scene A: A guy walks up to a girl in a bar and tells her what he’d like to do to her. She throws a drink in his face. The bartender has the bouncer toss him and the cop outside arrests him for Disorderly Conduct.
Scene B: A Gay guy walks up to a guy in a bar and tells him what he’d like to do to him. He throws a drink in his face. The bartender has the bouncer toss him. The cop outside arrests the bouncer, the bartender and the guy. The bar is shut down until the staff undergoes Diversity Training.
Would the customer the fag propositioned have to undergo diversity training too?
If you attack these perverts with a jab in the nose and a cross to the jaw, then it becomes a hate-crime against a homo. What options do men have except to sue these sickos?
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