Although Title VII does not prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual identity or orientation, nonetheless same sex discrimination and/or sexual harassment is.  (While Title VII affords no protection against discrimination based upon sexual orientation, an increasing number of states and municipalities have passed such laws, such as NYS and NYC).   See our post of June 27, 2013.

This is illustrated in the EEOC’s press announcement of a $155,000 settlement (which we hope is accurate and not premature, as another such announcement which we relied upon the other day and posted was) with a North Carolina private security and public safety company.

A class of male employees was allegedly subjected to sexual harassment by the company’s male captain and a male lieutenant:   “the captain making offensive sexual comments to his male subordinate employees; soliciting nude pictures from them; asking a male employee to undress in front of him; and soliciting male employees for sex. The captain and lieutenant also allegedly forced male employees to accompany them to a gay strip club while on duty. The complaint further alleged that the captain touched the chests and genitals of some of the male employees and offered promotions to certain male employees in exchange for sex.”

This case is similar to one we wrote about on April 2nd, where a New Mexico car dealership agreed to pay over $2 million, along with “a very strong consent decree,” to settle an EEOC same sex sexual harassment (and retaliation) lawsuit  on behalf of over 50 men.  The complaint there alleged that for ten years company managers “subject[ed] a class of men to egregious forms of sexual harassment, including shocking sexual comments, frequent solicitations for oral sex, and regular touching, grabbing, and biting of male workers on their buttocks and genitals.”

The EEOC’s General Counsel Lopez said then that “This settlement serves to remedy the egregious sexual harassment that the EEOC alleged the men were subjected to … It also raises awareness that all employees, male and female, are entitled to work in an environment free of sexual harassment and retaliation.”