Amy-Erin Blakely Fired for Having Big Breasts?
Big breasts: Do they present a distraction in the workplace, like loud music or body odor? That's what a court of law will have to decide, reports Msnbc.com.
In Florida, former assistant director at The Devereux Foundation Amy-Erin Blakely filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the employer. Mixed in to her suit is also an allegation of retaliation when she reported this violation of her civil rights to her superiors.
Senior managers at The Devereux Foundation would remark to Blakely that her breasts were large. As such, she was told, those breasts were "too distracting." Managers recommended she wear clothes that masked her breast size or pursue other tactics to conceal her bosom.
On the job, she filed two internal reports about how she was being spoken to. On the day that she had filed the second report -- Oct. 28 -- she was fired.
Celebrity feminist attorney Gloria Allred is representing Blakely in this lawsuit. Allred and Blakley spoke with Fox 11 News about the complaint.
Allred sees this as an important legal action for all women. Her client Blakely had received numerous promotions and supervised hundreds of employees. All indications had been she was headed for the top of the organization.
That all derailed when she registered her concerns about the harassment in two grievance procedures. The lawsuit is asking for compensatory and punitive damages, as well attorney fees. Clearly, there is a whistleblower element embedded in the lawsuit.
| Absolutely | |
|---|---|
| No Way | |
| Not Sure Yet |
Blakely, 43, told Fox 11 that the comments about her breasts, including men saying they wanted to sit close to her/them, started slowly in 2003. That was when she received her first promotion. Then they escalated as she continued to receive promotions. She noted that she felt "devalued" and came to be ashamed of her body. Her mode of dressing, she said, was "professional," not provocative.
If it smells like, looks like, and sounds like a bit of male envy at the success of a female, maybe it is...
Next: Amy-Erin's Attorney and Devereux Foundation Speak Out
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Jane Genova
Jane Genova, coach, book author, and lecturer on careers, specializes in transitions. Her talk on professional shifts at the New York State Bar Association has been published in VITAL SPEECHES OF THE DAY. Her latest book is OVER-50: HOW WE KEEP WORKING. She blogs on the subject at http://janegenova.com, http://lawandmore.typepad.com, http://careertransitions.typepad.com and http://over-50.typepad.com.
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