Although we practice in Michigan, we try to stay abreast of what is happening in our region because we know it is important to stay well-informed. The other day, an employment law-related story out of Ohio caught our eye.
The case we are mentioning refers to a police officer who sued the city of Monroe, Ohio, alleging that the police department was a “hostile work environment” and that his Dec. 31 dismissal was in retaliation of his discrimination lawsuit.
The police officer believes he was discriminated against because he has a stutter. Evidently, he was viciously mocked over the stutter and his supervisors did nothing, or at least not enough, to stop the mistreatment.
An attorney for the city has denied the police officer’s claims and said he was told he would be dismissed before he brought the discrimination suit.
Only time will tell which side prevails, but regardless, we can say that no U.S. citizen should be subject to discrimination or harassment while working. Our society has created and enacted a variety of laws meant to protect workers from that sort of treatment and there is no excuse for it.
If you are ever in a situation where you feel the way you are being treated at work is not on the up-and-up, you should consider speaking the matter over with an attorney who practices employment law. He or she will be able to offer you advice and help you settle on a path forward.
Source: The Associated Press, “Stuttering Ohio Officer Alleges Discrimination,” Jan. 1, 2013
- Of the many ways you could start informing yourself about the issues we mention in this post, one would be visiting the Workplace Discrimination portion of our website.