Can/should I sue my boss for calling me derogatory names?
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Can/should I sue my boss for calling me derogatory names?
I work for a really small production company that does beauty pageants across the country. Its owned by a married couple and i am one of two employees the other being their daughter. I got the job thinking it was a a little part time job. Last week, however, I worked almost 65 hours in a 4 day period to receive $410; 1 day I worked 15 hours with 20 minutes of down time. The rest was spent standing and getting screamed at for not being able to keep my boss out of frame while standing directly in front of the camera. When I don’t complete their very vague and usually impossible tasks I am called either dumbass, dumb fag (they know I’m gay), idiot, fucking idiot, etc. Their daughter who is 5 months pregnant is called the same things. These people are insane, they never stop yelling or arguing at
echoer or me and its wearing thin already and I’m in my third week of working here.
Asked on January 24, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Tennessee
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Generally, an employer may be as rude, abusive, mean, unprofessional, etc. as it likes. The exception, however, is that they may not discriminate against or harass an employee over certain specifically protected characteristics One of those is sex, which the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission considers to include discrimination or harassment basd on sexual orientation. So whle most of their nasty behavior/comments is legal, harassing you because (making derogatory comments about) you are gay may be a vioation of federal anti-discrimination law (e.g. Title VII). A good thing for you to do would be to contact the EEOC about this behavior; they may be able to help you without you having to hire (i.e. pay for) your own attorney.
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