You are the manager of a restaurant in ohio. your boss, the regional manager, just called you in to her office and told you that one of your customers has accused one of your hostesses of sexual harassment. your boss does know a friend who owns a restaurant in florida who was sued in a similar circumstance and lost. your boss is worried that this customer might sue but does not want to spend the money on an attorney just yet. to your boss understand how your case might be different from her friend’s case, explain the different types of legal authority that an ohio court may use to decide a suit against your company and how the florida case may or may not impact that decision.

Answer

The Ohio court will uphold the case of sexual harassment against the employee of the organization and find him guilty of the charge. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission is empowered with the responsibility to look after the cases of sexual discrimination in the state. This commission works in a truly independent manner and hence there would be no influence upon the authorities to undertake the case irrespective of the decision taken by the authorities of Florida.  

 Explanation

 Sexual Harassment is a legal offence in the USA and the Ohio Court can uphold the case against the employee of the organization for the charge of sexual offence. This can be justified with its previous stances on such issues where it has punished the offenders. It is thus obligatory upon the organization to ensure and maintain the safety of its employees at workplace.  

The Florida case might not impact the decision as the cases of sexual harrasment are being investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Florida. The manager must not compare the functioning of these two independent agencies and hence should understand the functioning of the authorities at Ohio is going to be irrespective of the decission made by the authorities at Florida in yet another case of sexual  harassment.

Further Explanation

Although neither the Supreme Court nor the State Court of Ohio have explicit laws to deal with cases of sexual harassment, the court however find the offenders guilty of the charge of ‘sexual discrimination’.  

The case of sexual harassment in Ohio will fall under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. The commission enforces upon the organizations to ensure that they are not engaged in sexual discrimination of any kind. Thus, the victims can file an application with the state commission to ensure justice is delivered. Hence it is binding upon the organization in the given case to take relevant courses of action against the offence or else the organization may suffer from the actions taken by authorities.  

Further, the Ohio state court functions in an independent manner and irrespective of the decisions made at Florida court, the court in Ohio is empowered to take steps it feels is necessary to ensure justice. Hence to assume that the Ohio state court will function similarly as the court in Florida would be wrong.

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Keywords

Sexual harassment at workplace, Federal and State courts on Sexual Harassment, safety of women at work place, sexual harassment laws in Florida, Sexual discrimination in Federal and State laws.