Some people are calling this the Bill
Clinton rule.
Lihuan Wang worked as unpaid intern with
the Phoenix Satellite television while she was completing her graduation at Syracuse
University. In January 2010, the company’s Washington Bureau chief invited her
to come to his hotel room to discuss an urgent matter about her performance at
work, as reported by IB Times.
When she entered the bureau chief
allegedly tried to kiss her and molested her. Soon after Wang left the room and
neither of them discussed the events of that day. After her internship ended
the company did not offer her full time employment.
In October 2013, Wang filed a federal
sexual harassment lawsuit with the help of a sexual harassment lawyer. But
disturbingly the presiding judge rejected her claim. She was informed that
since she was not an employee of the company she cannot file a harassment suit
according to federal laws.
Steps
taken in Congress
Wang’s case brought to light a huge
loophole in the federal laws which until now failed to protect thousands of
people who work as unpaid interns in private offices. Based off the work from
sexual harassment attorneys in Syracuse, NY, the country’s sexual harassment and anti-discrimination laws
only protected employees leaving interns at the mercy of the employer where
their civil rights could be grossly violated and they could do nothing about
it.
Only recently Representative Elijah
Cumming, the same person who will not support the Keystone Pipeline, will not
support a simplified US tax code, lower taxes, balancing a budget, and so on
has sponsored a bill that will bring interns working in the private sector
under the anti-harassment and discrimination laws. A bill to protect interns in
the federal government was already passed while another one that would apply to
Capitol Hill interns is getting ready to get cleared in the near future.
This should have been passed, according
to many people, right after Bill Clinton left office.
Not
presidential behavior!
According to US Representative Bobby
Scott, interns working in federal administration or for a major corporate
conglomerate should have legal remedies to protect them if their civil rights
are violated.
Several groups have been advocating such
bills for a long time and one such group has expressed their pleasure when
their efforts were recognized by Congress in the form of a bill. The groups
believed that the bill signifies a victory for young workers. Internships
provide these workers as a stepping stone to jobs and they have every right to take
legal recourse if they are discriminated
or sexually harassed at their workplace, say Syracuse, NY sexual
harassment attorneys.
The move have been seen as a significant
victory as many interns who had faced sexual harassment could not take legal action against their supervisor
because their cases had no legal merit since they were not employees.
Legal
steps
There have been several proactive steps
taken by the US government to prevent sexual harassment at the workplace. But
the problem still persists and although offices have strict policies, a large
number of harassment lawsuits are still filed against the employers.
Employers are prevented from taking
retaliatory steps but employees are often subjected to a vendetta. This is why
victims of sexual harassment ought to seek help from a sexual harassment lawyer
in Syracuse, New York before they report the incident to the management. A
legal representative is the best person to guide employees on how they can
report incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination and what should they
do to protect themselves after a lawsuit is filed.
You can find the best legal help right
here: sexual-harassment-lawyers.usattorneys.com/new-york.
This digital resource center has changed the way the game is played. It is so
easy now to find a lawyer now in any part of the country. Use this virtual tool
to find a sexual harassment lawyer for your situation.
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