Woman surprised by limits of harassment law

Woman surprised by limits of harassment law


Save Story
Leer en espaƱol

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LAYTON -- A Utah woman who says she was sexually harassed at her former job is shocked to learn Utah law does not protect her because her former workplace was too small.

The Standard-Examiner reports the 35-year-old woman formerly from Layton worked for a mortgage company from 2007 to 2008.

She tells the paper she received sexually explicit text messages from a coworker, she was exposed to pornography at work, and then she was fired when she complained about it.

She went to Utah's Anti-Discrimination and Labor Division thinking she had a good case. But she found out Utah's sexual harassment laws only cover businesses with more than 15 employees. Federal law is the same.

Officials say employees of small businesses have other options, such as filing a criminal complaint or filing a civil lawsuit.

The woman says she tried to file a criminal complaint, but police said there wasn't enough evidence. Two private attorneys refused to take the case, saying it would be too costly and difficult to prove.

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast