Employee Claims She Had To Accept Supervisor’s Sexual Harassment To Keep Her Job

Having represented sexual harassment victims for more than twenty years, our sexual harassment lawyers in Sumter County, Florida know that fear of retaliation is the leading reason why sexual harassment victims remain silent instead of complaining about the harassment. As observed by the court in Nichols v. Frank, 42 F.3d 503 (9th Cir. 1994), “most workers subjected to sexual pressure in the workplace have little means of defense—other than the law”—because “for economic reasons, most workers cannot simply abandon their employment—new jobs are hard to find.” In this article, our sexual harassment lawyers in Sumter County, Florida explain how the alleged facts in Bruce v. Adams and Reese, LLP, 2025 WL 611071 (M.D. Tenn. Feb. 25, 2025) are illustrative of the generalized fear of retaliation that often exists in sexual harassment cases.

Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

In that case, a woman named Bruce brought a sexual harassment claim against her former employer, Adams and Reese, LLP (“A & R”), pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). Title VII makes sexual harassment an unlawful employment practice. To violate Title VII, sexual harassment must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim’s employment and create a hostile working environment. Bruce alleges that she was required to work in a sexually hostile environment in violation of Title VII.

A & R is a law firm. In May 2022, Bruce was hired to work as a paralegal at A & R. Bruce claims that, during her employment with A & R, she was sexually harassed by her supervisor. The alleged harassment included the supervisor “making sexual comments and jokes to and about [ ] Bruce, as well as making inappropriate comments about [ ] Bruce’s appearance, clothing, and private life.” Bruce maintains that she became “more and more uncomfortable” with her supervisor’s behavior and “went out of her way to avoid him.” By the fall of 2022, according to Bruce, she “hardly spoke to [her supervisor] unless he reached out to her about a specific client or project.”

Fear Of Retaliation

Bruce asserts that, unbeknownst to her, her supervisor reached out to the office manager and another employee in September 2022 to tell them he wanted Bruce to be terminated “because she had not personally informed him that she would not be in the office that day.” After learning on October 3, 2022 that her supervisor allegedly pushed for Bruce to be terminated, Bruce then scheduled a meeting with her supervisor on October 5, 2022. During this meeting, according to Bruce, her supervisor denied saying anything about wanting to have her terminated. Bruce alleges that she was “convinced that complaining about her situation” to human resources “would lead to negative results and additional retaliation,” and she felt she “had no choice but to resort back to accepting [her supervisor’s] harassment to keep her job.”

Bruce claims that her supervisor’s “inappropriate comments” continued. When her supervisor learned that Bruce had become engaged in December 2022, Bruce asserts that his “harassment started to include inappropriate comments related to the engagement and [ ] Bruce’s relationship.” Bruce contends that these comments “started occurring even in work-related conversations” with Bruce and during team meetings. For example, Bruce alleges that her supervisor would say things like, “Let’s have [Bruce] go down there in a short skirt.” When talking to her, Bruce asserts that her supervisor would say “Hoe no” instead of “Oh no.” In April 2023, according to Bruce, her supervisor made “sexually suggestive comments about how ‘hot’ it would be to see Bruce and another paralegal engaging in sexual acts on his desk.”

Bruce was terminated in May 2023. Bruce claims that her supervisor was the “driving force” behind the termination decision.

Allegations Show Hostile Work Environment

A & R filed a motion with the trial court seeking dismissal of Bruce’s sexual harassment claim. A & R argued that Bruce’s allegations, even if accepted as true, failed to establish that the alleged harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of Bruce’s employment and create an abusive working environment in violation of Title VII. The trial court disagreed and denied A & R’s motion for dismissal.

In denying A & R’s motion for dismissal, the trial court explained that Bruce was “not required to allege every instance of harassment conduct,” and that the “three examples of inappropriate comments are apparently intended to be just that: examples.” The trial court observed that Bruce alleges that “such comments were essentially continuous for the period of time she was employed by A &R, whenever she interacted with [her supervisor], continuing up until her termination.” “Although none of this conduct qualifies as severe,” the trial court reasoned, “it was, at least as alleged [by Bruce], pervasive.” Consequently, the trial court concluded that Bruce had sufficiently alleged “a hostile work environment claim based on [her supervisor’s] repeated and continuous sex-based inappropriate comments and jokes.”

Free Consultation For Harassment Victims

One of the most critical decisions sexual harassment victims must make is which employment attorneys to consult with regarding their rights. As part of our commitment to helping sexual harassment victims, an experienced employment attorney will speak with you personally and you will receive the individualized attention your case deserves. We offer free confidential case evaluations for employees, and you will not have to pay to speak with our employment attorneys regarding your rights. We are available for consultation at your convenience, including scheduling telephone consultations for evenings and weekends.

Sumter County Sexual Harassment Lawyers

Based in Ocala, Florida and representing workers throughout Florida, our sexual harassment attorneys in Sumter County, Florida have fought for the rights of sexual harassment victims for more than two decades. If you have been sexually harassed at work or have questions about your rights as a sexual harassment victim, please contact our office for a free consultation with our sexual harassment lawyers in Sumter County, Florida. Our employee rights law firm takes sexual harassment cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that there are no attorney’s fees incurred unless there is a recovery, and our attorney’s fees come solely from the monetary award that you recover.