EEOC Sues Dallas Physician Group for Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

The EEOC has filed a lawsuit against Dallas-based EmCare, one of the largest providers of emergency room physicians in the country, alleging that the company violated federal law by subjecting a female employee to sexual harassment and that it unlawfully fired the woman and two co-workers in retaliation for their complaints. The EEOC says that the employee, an executive assistant, was subjected to sexually explicit remarks throughout her employment from the Chief Executive Officer of one of EmCare's divisions, and that she and two colleagues were fired after objecting to the lewd comments.

According to the EEOC, the CEO repeatedly made comments referencing female employees' breasts, derogatory references to women and sexual jokes. The EEOC claims that the executive assistant did not formally complain because she had heard members of the human resources department stating that they did not want employees coming to them with complaints. Shortly after the executive assistant told the CEO that she did not believe his conduct was appropriate, her employment was terminated. The EEOC also alleges that EmCare retaliated against two other employees who had previously complained to the human resources department about the inappropriate sexual comments and the behavior of the CEO.