Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyer Blog

A top Orange County official has been fired amid allegations that a former subordinate sexually harassed a string of female co-workers, ultimately leading to 12 felony charges in some of those cases.

The county's public works director was terminated the week after a former employee was criminally charged in the attempted sexual battery, stalking and false imprisonment of seven of his female subordinates over a period of eight years.

Our Orange County sexual harassment lawyers know that this is an extreme example, but sexual harassment is not uncommon in workplaces, and scenarios can even sometimes rise to the criminal level. In those situations, at the conclusion of the criminal trial, victims can also move forward to seek civil penalties - even if there wasn't enough evidence to convict the defendant criminally.

Sexual harassment victims should consider additionally pursuing legal action against their company or organization, particularly if there is evidence that higher-ranking officials overlooked the harassment once informed of it. The fact that county officials are taking action to fire at least one supervisor will only help to bolster any future civil cases.

In this case, according to the Los Angeles Times, some of the alleged incidents happened on government property, often in the office of the accused.

Attorneys for the fired official, unsurprisingly, railed that he was being thrown under the bus. But the fact of the matter is, organizations have a responsibility to have clearly-established sexual harassment policy guidelines and to ensure that those in charge are enforcing them. When that doesn't happen, swift action is advisable.

Not only has the public works director been fired, but there is talk that the county's chief executive officer may lose his job as well.

At issue for them is the fact that the county CEO received at least two anonymous letters detailing some of the allegations against a former county administrator in the public works department. Those included accounts of the administrator luring female employees into his office, saying he needed to discuss work-related matters. Instead, according to the women, he would sexually assault them by hugging and kissing them and pressing his body against theirs. He allegedly told one employee that it was pointless to scream because his walls were soundproof.

The county CEO reportedly instructed the public works director to "informally investigate" the matter. That resulted in questioning of some of the women by a human resources staffer. However, because their claims reportedly could not be corroborated by outside evidence, no action was taken and the administrator continued to hold his county position.

Prosecutors have been quoted as saying that investigators will continue to press forward in determining whether others were responsible for dropping the ball in this case. Their findings in this regard will no doubt have at least some bearing in the future civil cases that will inevitably arise.