Employees in the United States have options for addressing discrimination due to sexual harassment. Those who have experienced these forms of harassment in the workplace may be able to take legal action to address issues such as a hostile work environment or actions by managers or other employees that have affected their careers or their ability to maintain employment. These issues can affect workers even at high profile companies that have a positive reputation. This was recently demonstrated in a lawsuit filed against Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles.

Lawsuit Alleges Sexual Comments and Other Forms of Harassment

In November of 2021, a 38-year-old woman who works the night shift at Tesla’s plant in Fremont, California filed a lawsuit against the company. Her suit claims that she experienced sexual harassment on a daily basis and that the company has a “pervasive culture” of sexist behavior. 

In the lawsuit, the woman described multiple types of disturbing behavior that she experienced. In addition to derogatory comments about her body and other sexual comments made to her and her female coworkers, she also experienced groping and inappropriate touching, including male workers rubbing their bodies against hers or claiming that touching was unavoidable due to the need to work close to each other. She also had supervisors proposition her while claiming that they controlled her career and advancement. While she alleges that had filed multiple complaints, she also alleges that the company did not respond, and that the harassment she experienced caused her to suffer extreme emotional distress.

Did you know that experts consider divorce to be one of the most stressful life events a person can experience? Getting divorced can take a major toll on your mental health. It can be even harder to cope with a divorce or separation during the holidays. If you are in the midst of a divorce, consider the following tips for reducing your stress.

Accept Your Feelings and Do Not Bottle Emotions

Experts liken getting divorced to losing a loved one. Many divorcing spouses go through the same stages of grief that someone mourning a death would go through. You may feel angry, depressed, guilty, frustrated, and confused – perhaps within the same hour. You may also feel excited and hopeful about your post-divorce future. Whatever feelings you experience, accept them and recognize that this type of emotional volatility is completely normal during a divorce.

Work With Professionals Who Can Make the Process Easier

Many people try to handle divorce on their own. However, doing so can make the process much more difficult than it needs to be. Having a support team can make all the difference in the world. An experienced divorce lawyer can handle the legal, financial and logistical aspects of your divorce while mental health professionals including therapists and counselors can help you cope with the emotional and psychological aspects of the split.

Child support helps parents pay for housing, childcare, education and extracurriculars, and other child-related expenses. Illinois courts use an Income Shares Model to calculate child support payments. This model uses both spouses’ net incomes to determine a child support payment amount that provides the needed financial support without overburdening the paying parent. However, determining child support is not always as straightforward as it may seem. One situation that can make child support calculations more complicated is a parent’s unemployment.

Is an Unemployed Parent Required to Pay Child Support?

Illinois courts prioritize a child’s best interests above all else during child-related legal matters. A child’s financial needs do not change because a parent becomes unemployed. Consequently, a parent without an income is not automatically absolved of their child support obligation. However, a parent who is struggling to fulfill his or her obligation may be able to request a child support modification and reduce his or her payments in some situations.  

Can a Parent Avoid Child Support By Quitting Their Job?

Some parents lose their job due to no fault of their own. For example, many parents were laid off from their jobs due to COVID-19. However, some parents try to avoid paying child support by quitting their job or taking a lower-paying job. When deciding whether to reduce a parent’s child support obligation, Illinois courts consider the reason for the parent’s unemployment or underemployment.

The fast-food chain McDonald’s has been one of the most popular restaurants in Chicago and across the U.S. for decades. However, the restaurant’s reputation has been soiled by what many employees are calling ongoing, unaddressed sexual harassment against workers. Just recently, McDonald’s staff in cities throughout the country walked off the job in protest of workplace sexual harassment. This walk-off is not the first of its kind. In fact, McDonald’s workers have organized strikes multiple times in the past over allegations of discriminatory actions and workplace harassment issues.

Restaurant Workers Say They Were Verbally and Physically Harassed

Workers should be able to focus on their jobs. However, demeaning and inappropriate language and behavior in the workplace can sometimes make it impossible to do so. Harassment and discrimination can take countless different forms. Sometimes, sexual harassment takes the form of unfair treatment toward workers of a certain gender. Other times, sexual harassment involves displays of explicit or outright pornographic images or videos. Unfortunately, some workers are even subject to sexual assault on the job. One McDonald’s manager is accused of raping an employee who was just 14 years old at the time. The manager had previously been sentenced to ten years in prison after sexually assaulting a child but still managed to gain the position of manager at the fast-food establishment.

Mandatory Anti-Sexual Harassment Training Goes into Effect Next Year

In April, McDonald’s announced that its 2 million workers would be required to undergo anti-sexual harassment training. Restaurants will be required to meet the new standards starting January 1, 2022. Restaurant managers are also expected to collect ongoing feedback about the workplace culture to ensure that the restaurants are safe for employees and customers. However, some claim that anti-sexual harassment training is not enough.

Sexual harassment is considered a form of illegal sex-based or gender-based discrimination. Every employee deserves to work in an environment where they feel safe and respected. Despite numerous federal and state laws designed to protect workers from sexual harassment and discrimination, unlawful harassment continues in workplaces across the United States.

When most people think about sexual harassment, they assume that the harassment involved opposite-sex individuals – usually a male aggressor and a female victim. However, sexual harassment does not always follow this stereotype. Sexual harassment victims and perpetrators can be of either gender. Sometimes, the victim and the perpetrator are of the same gender, which can make it even harder for victims to report harassment.

Same-Sex Sexual Harassment Victims Are Often Reluctant to Report Harassment

Same-sex sexual harassment is often insidious. It may come in the form of favoritism or biased performance reviews instead of derogatory remarks whispered at the water cooler. Sexual harassment involving same-sexed individuals is often difficult to recognize. For many victims, it is also difficult to report.