EEOC ORDERS NO CONTACT (AND MORE) AFTER SEXUAL HARASSMENT
An HHS employee, Ileana, alleged that she was sexually harassed by the Agency’s Deputy Director (DD), who touched her leg, rubbed her shoulders, stared at her chest, looked down her blouse, and repeatedly asked her out to lunch and dinner. She maintained that she rebuffed DD’s advances and told him to stop his behavior, but he did not do so. She further alleged that when she rebuffed his advances, DD punished her by assigning her extra duties, refusing her requests for training, assigning her duties outside her position description. Finally, she alleged that DD would often call Complainant into his office to “vent” which often resulted in DD throwing pencils and pens across the room. What did EEOC do about it once it upheld her charges? It imposed an order that included five kinds of remedies. First, …
it ordered the agency to pay Ileana $23,375.00 in attorneys’ fees and $55,000.00 in non-pecuniary damages.
Next, EEOC required the agency to take all necessary steps to ensure that Complainant has no contact with the Deputy Director and provide her with a designated management official to inform if subsequent acts of alleged harassment occur by the Deputy Director or other individuals.
Third, it turned its attention to the damage the DD did to her performance record ordering it to–
- expunge the unsatisfactory mid-year and the end of year performance evaluation Complainant received on January 29, 2015, from all personnel and associated Agency records. The Agency shall replace the rating with a satisfactory rating.
- expunge from its records any documentation relating to the Counseling Memorandum, Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), Performance Assistance Plan (PAP), and any other documents associated with the actions found to be discriminatory
Fourth, it wrote, “the Agency shall provide a minimum of eight hours of in-person EEO training to all management and supervisory officials at its Office of Infectious Disease, NCHHSTP, in Atlanta, Georgia, regarding their responsibilities under Title VII, with special emphasis on the duty to avoid discrimination and to prevent, address, and correct harassment.
Finally, it required the agency to consider taking appropriate additional disciplinary action Complainant’s first-level supervisor, and the Deputy Director. The Commission does not consider training to be disciplinary action. The Agency shall report its decision to the compliance officer. If the Agency decides not to take disciplinary action, it shall set forth the reason(s) for its decision not to impose discipline. If either Complainant’s first-line supervisor or the Deputy Director has left the Agency’s employ, the Agency shall furnish documentation of the departure date.
For more details, check out Ileana R., v. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary, DHHS, EEOC No. 2023005296 (2025)
