Harassment and Fostering of a Hostile Work Environment

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nia1

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My jurisdiction is: Iowa

Over the past few weeks my coworker and I have been reporting obscene drawings we have found in one of the work areas we use to our immediate supervisor and to the manager above her (depending on who is working when the issues arise). On multiple ocassions we have stated that we are uncomfortable entering the area and that the mere thought of doing so makes us both nauseated. On one ocassion the 2nd level manager, who is also the GM's wife, attempted to discuss the issue with the manager over that particular area. After that discussion they attempted to convince my coworker and I that the drawing we gave them must have been done by someone who was terminated weeks ago and never disposed of. We attempted to explain that the box flap the drawing was on was part of a box that had been opened in the past 36 hours, but it fell on deaf ears. Again, we were told it must have been there for a while. On another ocassion we gave a drawing to our immediate manager and offered to show her exactly where it had been or to email the pictures of the location we took (we have come to the point where we have been taking date stamped pictures in an effort to prove that the things we are finding are new). She hardly gave us an answer, so I emailed her the pictures anyway when I got home that afternoon. Her email response said that she was sorry we keep dealing with this and that she only wishes this was her biggest problem. The most recent issue was yesterday, and she told me she had no desire to see the newest drawings.

I gave an obscene magazine to my managers over the summer and when they showed it to my GM he told them to throw it away and not worry about it. I only wish I had been smart enough then to document it because I know that attempt will be useless now. However, for me it tells me that going to my GM will be a wasted effort yielding no results.

The employee handbook clearly states that the business will "sensitize" all employees to the issue of sexual harassment. Nothing was done upon my hire or with the employees that have been hired since. The handbook also states that as the employee my responsibility is to report any incidents to my immediate supervisor, unless of course it is him/her that is the offender, and they will immediately document and investigate the issue. None of these things have been done and some of the drawings and such have not been removed or at least blacked over with a marker or paint to hide them from view.

My coworker and I are both to the point where neither of us wants to even go to work. I've spent the last week (where the majority of this has taken place) taking dated pictures of everything and journaling the daily events and my moods at work for each day. Can I file a suit directly against my employer at this point for continuing to allow this hostile/offensive environment to occur or are there other channels I need to pursue first?
 
There are other channels you need to pursue first.

Is there an HR department? Start there.

If there is not an HR department, or if HR does not succeed in making the unwelcome behavior stop, your next step is the EEOC and/or the state human rights commission. You CANNOT take legal action against the company until or unless you have received a right to sue letter from one or the other.

THEN you can take legal action.

Please note that the company's ONLY legal obligation is to make it stop. They are not required to investigate to your satisfaction, to fire the offender, to tell you what action they took, or to make public any disciplinary action. Their ONLY obligation is to make it stop. If they succeed in doing so, you have no legal action you CAN take.
 
Thank you. I realize they can't do anything more than to make it stop. The problem is they aren't even making the effort to try to make it stop, which is where my frustration began. There is no HR department in our establishment and HR at the corporate office says they only handle payroll and leave type issues (basically there's nothing in place to deal with this). I'll definitely see where the avenues you suggested lead me. Thanks!
 
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