A toxic workplace culture has been revealed by employees of the National Park Service. A shocking 39 percent of National Park Service employees say that they have been either discriminated against or harassed at work. The details were revealed in a complaint made by employees to the Interior Department.

According to the complaint, more than 10 percent of National Park Service employees suffered from sexual harassment, 20 percent experienced gender-based harassment and .95 percent suffered from sexual assault — all within the last 12 months. Seventy-five percent of the harassment victims said they failed to report the incidents. The reason was because they did not believe that their complaints would be acted upon. Thirty-three percent of the harassment victims said that they had no faith in the internal complaint process.

A sociology professor from the University of Maine said that the National Park Service needs to work to improve its work environment by training all employees — even those positioned at the top of the organization. She said that until employees can trust that management will listen to their complaints — and that harassment will be stopped — the culture will probably persist.

On-the-job sexual harassment is unlawful — no matter where you work. If you’re at a government job or a private one, you can fight back against the people harassing you and demand that the behavior stop. You can also pursue financial damages in court if you have suffered from retaliation, lost your job or experienced other ill effects related to being sexually harassed or discriminated against at your workplace.

Source: Buzzfeed, “39% Of National Park Employees Say They’ve Faced Sexual Harassment Or Discrimination,” Nidhi Subbaraman, Oct. 17, 2017

Just like any large organization — and any person or small organization for that matter — the federal government wants to protect its financial interests. Federal organizations will therefore do their best to identify any potentially fraudulent transactions made between itself and private companies.

In addition to investigating suspicious activity, the government also offers big monetary rewards in some cases to people who report instances of fraud against the government. Under the federal False Claims Act, for example, individuals receive money in exchange for revealing secrets about people who are engaging in less than kosher business transactions.

When an employee reports the unlawful activity of his or her private employer to the federal government, it’s known as a “qui tam” action. For example, imagine you are an accountant for a tire company. The military has ordered 60,000 tires. The problem is, the accountant’s boss asks him to purposefully only send 50,000 tires. This means that the federal government will pay for 10,000 tires it never received. The question is, where did the money go? Straight into the pocket of the dishonest company’s owners.

If the accountant chooses to file a claim with the government about the billing and product delivery fraud being committed by his company, it will be referred to as a “qui tam” claim. If the claim is successful, and if the federal government proves that the business was purposefully violating the law, then the business will be fined and the reporting employee may be entitled to receive a portion of the fines as his or her “bounty” for making the complaint.

Whataburger Restaurants is facing a sexual harassment claim from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The lawsuit relates to the fast-food chain’s retaliation against a female manager at a location in Florida.

The manager claims that her superiors put pressure on her to only hire workers who were white. When she refused, according to the suit, the Whataburger chain wrongfully terminated her in retaliation for her refusal to engage in racially-biased hiring practices.

Whataburger continues to deny the allegations, saying that it is currently performing a thorough internal investigation about what occurred. A representative for the chain said, “We value diversity in our teams and proudly employ family members of all races.” The burger chain says that 75 percent of its employee population has identified itself to be “non-white.”

The EEOC is pursuing a permanent injunction against Whataburger, which would force the burger chain to pay the woman financial damages in lost pay. It’s also seeking to force Whataburger to create policies that will protect future employees from being retaliated against if they do not engage in racist hiring practices.

The director of the EEOC’s Miami offices said to reporters, “Employees who oppose unlawful practices should feel secure in exercising that right.” One of the primary employment protections that all U.S. employees enjoy is freedom from retaliation for refusing to engage in unlawful behaviors.

If you are being pressured at your workplace to institute unlawful practices or engage in unlawful behavior, you can confidently refuse. If you suffer retaliation from your superiors as a result, you will be well within your right to lodge an employment law complaint against your company.

Source: My San Antonio, “U.S. EEOC sues Whataburger for allegedly discriminating against blacks in hiring,” Joshua Fechter, Sep. 26, 2017

Home health care agencies in Florida can now receive protection relating to their business interests. A recent decision by the Florida Supreme Court ruled that home health care agencies in Florida can enforce the non-compete agreements they require their marketing representative to sign. In other words, marketing representatives employed by home health care agencies will no longer be able to leave their jobs and bring their books of clients with them.

The decision relates to the case of two marketing reps who worked at different home health care groups. According to the home health care agencies that employed them, the firms lost business when the two women left their jobs and violated their noncompete agreements while working for other agencies.

The decision could essentially render the relationships that health care representatives build with physicians and hospital referral sources could be untouchable after a rep leaves a particular home health care agency. According to one employment law attorney, the issue is no longer a grey area of the law like it used to be. The enforceability of the noncompetes, however, will probably not be absolute. In some cases, where a marketing representative had only very limited contact with a particular person, he may be permitted to solicit that individual’s business while working with another agency.

Are you an employer with an employee who signed a noncompete clause? Are you an employee trying to determine if your noncompete is enforceable? No matter what your noncompete issue happens to be, consulting with a Miami employment law attorney can help you get a handle on your situation.

Source: homehealthcarenews, “Home Health Referral Sources are Protected in Florida,” Amy Baxter, Sep. 20, 2017

A lot of sexual harassment lawsuits focus on toxic workplace culture. That’s because Florida workplaces and employers are required to offer their employees a workplace that is free of offensive, sexualized banter and sexual harassment.

Every employee has the right to feel comfortable in their workplace. This includes employers taking care of basic things such as hiring an Office Cleaning business to regularly keep the place sanitized and hygienic, providing basic health and first aid needs, fostering a productive and communicative environment, and so on.

Workplaces today are not the sweatshops of old. Providing the minimum standard of care is mandatory for employers. Whilst this constitutes comfortable furniture from a place like Office Monster, it also means mental wellbeing within the office should be diligently monitored by employers. In some situations, workplace culture serves to promote this bad behavior. Employers have a legal duty to squelch this kind of culture as soon as it rears its ugly head.

Here’s what to look for to determine if you believe that your workplace culture is “toxic”:

• Women don’t receive promotions while men always seem to get opportunities and raises.
• Maternity and paternity leave policies are outdated, and employees feel like they’re being discouraged from taking time off for the birth of a baby, even though it’s their legal right to do so.
• Flirty comments are frequent and make you feel uncomfortable. If you complain, you hear someone say “That’s just how things are at this office.” or “Come on, it was just a joke.”
• Women are constantly being commented on regarding their clothing and appearance rather than a job well done and good work ethic.
• After work events tend to be boy’s club events. It tends to just be the men who come, and the banter tends to be about women, with lots of raunchy jokes.
• Male salaries outpace female salaries notably..
• Go-getter female employees are referred to as aggressive and moody, while the male employees are referred to as motivated and passionate.
• Female complaints don’t receive action, while male complaints are listened to and taken seriously.
• Female job applicants only get the job to meet quotas to build the appearance of a diverse workplace, but in reality, they are not respected once they get the job.

Are you being subjected to toxic work environment? If those conditions have lead to discrimination, being sexually harassed or if you just have a feeling that they are “not right,” a Florida employment law attorney can review the facts of your case to determine what can be done.

Source: Entrepreneur, “10 Signs You’ve Got a Toxic Workplace Culture, Bro,” Amol Sarva and Jenny Fielding, accessed Sep. 20, 2017

A survey of approximately 900 physical therapists revealed that 80 percent of them experience on-the-job sexual harassment. According to the study, inappropriate sexual behavior on the part of patients is a common experience for most physical therapists.

According to the physical therapists surveyed, most of them had suffered from indecent exposure, sexual remarks and sexual assault. Approximately half of them had experienced such behavior over the previous year. The survey results show that the number of physical therapists being sexually harassed is the same as it was during the 1990s.

According to the lead author of the study, “The numbers stand for themselves, and it’s quite alarming.” The survey author further stated that many physical therapists have been trained regarding methods for dealing with on-the-job sexual harassment, which ultimately may result in consequences for the patient and the therapist. For one, physical therapists might discharge the patient immediately from care when such behavior occurs.

Of the 80 percent of physical therapists who had experienced on-the-job sexual harassment, approximately 25 percent said that they suffered from guilt, anger, anxiety, fear and/or depression as a result of the incidents. According to one expert on the topic, physical therapists are in a unique position because they have a duty to care for their patients. However, health care practitioners also need to take care of their own needs when this kind of behavior occurs.

Have you been sexually harassed at your health care related job by a patient? Your employer has a legal responsibility to protect you from being sexually harassed at work. If you’re encountering sexual harassment on the job — no matter what kind of employment you have — speak up about the harassment and demand that it stop immediately.

Source: Reuters, “Most physical therapists face sexual harassment from patients,” Carolyn Crist, Aug. 31, 2017