Prince George's County School Employee Accused of a Felony
A 30-year-old Prince George's County elementary school employee was recently arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a student at the school. The man may is now facing potential imprisonment for the felony charges against him.
The Prince George's County school district likely has policies addressing the consequences of an employee being arrested and/or convicted of a felony. Such policies might be contained in the man's employment agreement, or perhaps in employee handbooks. In any event, the man will likely suffer employment consequences, in addition to any criminal liability.
Although this story involves an unusual workplace -- an elementary school -- and an alleged felony, it can still serve as an example of the benefit of preventive employment policies when it comes to sexual harassment or discriminatory or unlawful behavior in the workplace.
Indeed, sexual harassment is one of those issues which employers might be well advised to address in their employee handbooks. Many media publications regard allegations of a hostile workplace or discriminatory treatment based on sex as newsworthy, so such complaints often make regional headlines.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the federal law under which this type of employment discrimination claim might be brought against certain employers. In addition, expanded protections may also be available under state law, such as the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act.
Yet the Equal Opportunity Commissions recommends doing more than simply investigating allegations of unlawful discrimination and enforcing violations. To encourage prevention against sexual harassment in the workplace, the EEOC advises employers to offer employee training and to institute an internal complaint process. The Maryland Commission on Human Relations adopts a similar posture, suggesting that employers might reduce their potential exposure to sexual harassment claims by codifying personnel policies and training staff.
Source: greenbelt.patch.com, "School Employee Charged with Sexually Abusing Student," Jenni Pompi