Confidential
Sexual Harassment
2002 – 2004
In 2002, a resident of Iberia Parish came to the Law Offices of L. Clayton Burgess with a sexual harassment claim. The woman’s landlord had been verbally and physically harassing her for a period of time. The incident that made her come to our firm is as follows. One month, she had gone to her landlord’s office to pay rent. The landlord brought her to a back room, and began touching her breasts. Afraid and shaken after this incident, she tried to avoid him as best she could. Even so, her landlord went out of his way to sexually harass her.
Following this incident, he tried to pay our client for sexual favors on several occasions. He continued to make unwanted advances towards her. Sometimes he called her several times a week, making excuses for her to have to visit his office. Our client told him no and rejected his advances every time. Almost every meeting they had was undercut with some type of sexual remark or action on his part. Eventually the stress and anxiety became too much for her to deal with.
Results:
After starting an investigation into the case, our firm confirmed multiple witnesses to the harassment. They witnessed our client being touched inappropriately, and being asked for sexual favors on multiple occasions. Worst of all, the landlord was witnessed exposing himself to our client while he was on duty working in the complex. As the case continued, it became known to the firm that the landlord had been sued in the past for sexual harassment. He was also currently being sued for sexual harassment at the time of our client’s case. The case was settled out of court and was found in favor of our client’s claims of sexual battery, emotional distress, and psychological stress.
