{"id":550,"date":"2013-01-27T19:57:29","date_gmt":"2013-01-27T19:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/struck-out-famu-baseball-coach-to-be-fired-amid-sexual-harassment-claim\/"},"modified":"2022-08-06T16:27:28","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T16:27:28","slug":"struck-out-famu-baseball-coach-to-be-fired-amid-sexual-harassment-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/struck-out-famu-baseball-coach-to-be-fired-amid-sexual-harassment-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"Struck Out: FAMU Baseball Coach To Be Fired Amid Sexual Harassment Claim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Florida A&amp;M baseball coach, Willie Brown, is being terminated following allegations that he hazed and harassed a player because of the player\u2019s sexual orientation.\u00a0 Various news reports state that action is underway to dismiss Brown based on these allegations.<\/p>\n<p>Whether Brown is actually innocent or not, his termination for alleged sexual harassment is not an isolated occurrence.\u00a0\u00a0 Harassment continues to be a problem in the world of sports, as in all other industries.\u00a0 Throughout the past few years, there have been notable terminations, lawsuits and settlements based on claims of sexual harassment in collegiate and professional sports. \u00a0Here is just a sampling:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In the fall of 2012, University of Iowa associate director of athletics students services, Peter Gray, resigned following an internal report that accused him of violating the university\u2019s sexual harassment policy.<\/li>\n<li>In 2011, the University of Texas paid $400,000 to settle a sexual harassment complaint against Cleve Bryant, former associate athletics director for football operations.\u00a0 Bryant was terminated for his conduct.<\/li>\n<li>In 2008, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former soccer player against coach Anson Dorrance for $385,000.<\/li>\n<li>In 2007, Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former team executive who was awarded $11.6 million by a jury.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>An important lesson to be learned from these cases is that merely having personnel policies that prohibit harassment is not enough to either deter bad behavior, or to adequately protect an institution or company against lawsuits. \u00a0Furthermore, case decisions make clear that companies that fail to train their staff about fair employment practices do so at their peril and may be subject to punitive damages.<\/p>\n<p>Given the economy and the fact that discrimination charge filing is at a historical high, effective training is more important than ever. Terminated employees who cannot find new jobs are more inclined to resort to litigation. \u00a0Given this landscape, business operators should be especially sensitive to employee relations and ensuring that the workplace is free of harassment and discrimination.\u00a0 Here are three practical steps a company should take to help avoid litigation:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Implement sound EEO and anti-harassment policies<\/span>.\u00a0 To be effective, any anti-harassment policy should do the following:\u00a0 identify prohibited conduct, contain an easy to understand complaint procedure, provide alternative avenues to lodge a complaint, state what discipline will be issued if there is a finding of harassment, and prohibit retaliation against anyone who lodges a complaint or who participates in an investigation of a complaint.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Conduct harassment and EEO training at least once each year<\/span>.\u00a0 It is important that employees understand the harassment policy and their obligations under the policy.\u00a0 It is also critical that a company be able to show that it takes its harassment policy seriously.\u00a0 Annual training helps accomplish both of these needs. \u00a0There is tremendous value in educating employees about the company\u2019s values and, in particular, its commitment to preventing harassment in the workplace.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Keep attendance records of training sessions<\/span>. \u00a0If you conduct harassment training, make sure that every employee in attendance signs an attendance sheet or is otherwise documented as present.\u00a0 It is not uncommon for a plaintiff in a sexual harassment lawsuit to claim that the employer failed to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment and\/or that the plaintiff was victimized because he\/she did not know how to lodge a complaint.\u00a0 Proof that the plaintiff actually attended a sexual harassment training session (such as an attendance sheet) will go a long way to undermine the plaintiff\u2019s credibility and show that the company acted responsibly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Sexual Harassment claims can be extremely costly to defend and can result in significant liability.\u00a0\u00a0 They can also be the ruin of organizational and personal reputations.\u00a0 Taking proactive measures to guard against harassment claims is a prudent way to avoid the embarrassing headlines and to protect your business against harassment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida A&amp;M baseball coach, Willie Brown, is being terminated following allegations that he hazed and harassed a player because of the player\u2019s sexual orientation.\u00a0 Various news reports state that action is underway to dismiss Brown based on these allegations. Whether Brown is actually innocent or not, his termination for alleged sexual harassment is not an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":14251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[54,55,56,19,20],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Struck Out: FAMU Baseball Coach To Be Fired Amid Sexual Harassment Claim - Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/struck-out-famu-baseball-coach-to-be-fired-amid-sexual-harassment-claim\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Struck Out: FAMU Baseball Coach To Be Fired Amid Sexual Harassment Claim - Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida A&amp;M baseball coach, Willie Brown, is being terminated following allegations that he hazed and harassed a player because of the player\u2019s sexual orientation.\u00a0 Various news reports state that action is underway to dismiss Brown based on these allegations. 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