Sexual Harassment of an Independent Contractor
Felicia,
I was referred by an article that bore your name regarding independently contracted employees...
I am a contracted employee at a chiropractic office and a colleague of mine is having a tough time with this question. She has been in a situation where someone has "suggested" (getting together) outside of a massage, but this someone has been a client of the chiropractor's for at least 2 years. He had gotten her mobile phone number from her card and was calling her frequently.
At that point she told the chiropractor(s), she didn't want to work on this someone/client but yet they still scheduled a massage with her. She wants to know what her legalities are as an independent contractor...can you lead me to a website or something that would pass on information for her. She is afraid that she will be fired over the whole matter regarding giving her phone number out and she hasn't been taken very seriously...
I would appreciate any advise you can give me to pass along to her. Thank you.
Concerned Therapist
Dear Concerned -
It seems there are a couple of problems with this situation that your friend is dealing with. The first is that the chiropractic office is scheduling a client that she feels uncomfortable with even though she has told them not to. Depending on how many staff members there are at the office and the laws of your particular state, this could be considered a type of sexual harassment (from the client) and the chiropractor could be held accountable for not protecting the staff member after it was reported. It is a little more hazy or complex since she is an independent contractor, but is certainly an issue that an employment law attorney is more qualified than I am to help with.
You could also tell your friend to visit the IRS web site (www.irs.gov) to determine if she is really an independent contractor as well as that of the US Equal Opportunity Commission (http://www.eeoc.gov/) to better understand the US laws regarding harassment. Your state or local government may also have laws regarding this area of concern.
The second concern I see is that of giving out her contact information without consent of the chiropractor. According to your email it sounds like your friend's cell phone number was written on her card rather than printed. My questions for her would be 1) Why did you give him your number? 2) Was it to schedule appointments when the office was closed? 3) Was it done in a way that perhaps the client thought it was an invitation for these "suggestions"?
Whatever her answers, since she is an independent contractor, I would say the chiropractor really has no reason to be angry. ICs are supposed to maintain as much of the control over their work situation as possible, including communication with clients. That being said, someone who is legally supposed to be in control (your friend) may not have grounds to pursue any type of harassment protection. But an employment law attorney can answer any and all of these questions.
Hope that is of some help to you and your friend. Best of luck to you both.
Felicia
I was referred by an article that bore your name regarding independently contracted employees...
I am a contracted employee at a chiropractic office and a colleague of mine is having a tough time with this question. She has been in a situation where someone has "suggested" (getting together) outside of a massage, but this someone has been a client of the chiropractor's for at least 2 years. He had gotten her mobile phone number from her card and was calling her frequently.
At that point she told the chiropractor(s), she didn't want to work on this someone/client but yet they still scheduled a massage with her. She wants to know what her legalities are as an independent contractor...can you lead me to a website or something that would pass on information for her. She is afraid that she will be fired over the whole matter regarding giving her phone number out and she hasn't been taken very seriously...
I would appreciate any advise you can give me to pass along to her. Thank you.
Concerned Therapist
Dear Concerned -
It seems there are a couple of problems with this situation that your friend is dealing with. The first is that the chiropractic office is scheduling a client that she feels uncomfortable with even though she has told them not to. Depending on how many staff members there are at the office and the laws of your particular state, this could be considered a type of sexual harassment (from the client) and the chiropractor could be held accountable for not protecting the staff member after it was reported. It is a little more hazy or complex since she is an independent contractor, but is certainly an issue that an employment law attorney is more qualified than I am to help with.
You could also tell your friend to visit the IRS web site (www.irs.gov) to determine if she is really an independent contractor as well as that of the US Equal Opportunity Commission (http://www.eeoc.gov/) to better understand the US laws regarding harassment. Your state or local government may also have laws regarding this area of concern.
The second concern I see is that of giving out her contact information without consent of the chiropractor. According to your email it sounds like your friend's cell phone number was written on her card rather than printed. My questions for her would be 1) Why did you give him your number? 2) Was it to schedule appointments when the office was closed? 3) Was it done in a way that perhaps the client thought it was an invitation for these "suggestions"?
Whatever her answers, since she is an independent contractor, I would say the chiropractor really has no reason to be angry. ICs are supposed to maintain as much of the control over their work situation as possible, including communication with clients. That being said, someone who is legally supposed to be in control (your friend) may not have grounds to pursue any type of harassment protection. But an employment law attorney can answer any and all of these questions.
Hope that is of some help to you and your friend. Best of luck to you both.
Felicia
If someone is calling you and you do not want the to and you have told them as much, it is called stalking and is a matter of criminal law. I am offended by the implication that this person was asking for it by giving the client their card. Even if the person was a former friend/acquaintance you have the legal right to be free from harassment. The company should back her up and wish to protect her safety in a perfect world. I am not sure of the legality as I am not a lawyer but I have studied the matter and know that there have been some successful sexual harassment lawsuits brought by independent contractors, this form of harassment would fall under the "hostile work environment" form of sexual harassment.
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Thanks so much for your comment, Wendy.
You are absolutely correct about the hostile work environment issue when it comes to what is mandated for employers with 15 or more full time employees (click here to read the whole definition). Please rest assured that I never think it is ok for someone to be harassed by a client or that a therapist deserves to be treated inappropriately because they handed out a business card. I am terribly sorry if you thought otherwise from the comments I shared in this post. Regardless of the work situation someone is in, I personally believe that all therapists have a right to refuse service to any client who has been inappropriate, stalker-ish or with whom the therapist is simply uncomfortable.
Where things are confusing for some employers and workers is how the federal and state harassment laws affect independent contractors and the businesses that use them. Here is what I found on the EEOC website: The employer will be liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action. Note that this does not say harassment of independent contractors. Hence the confusion or perhaps lack of action on the part of the chiro.
Click here for an article about a harassment case of a social worker who worked as an independent contractor.
Another article on racial/national origin harassment of ICs
Going back to the original question or concern shared by the massage therapist who wrote in "She wants to know what her legalities are as an independent contractor...can you lead me to a website or something that would pass on information for her. She is afraid that she will be fired over the whole matter regarding giving her phone number out and she hasn't been taken very seriously..."
As I said before, and I am not an attorney either, my opinion is that the chiropractor may or may not be held liable depending on the size of the business and the exact nature of the client/therapist interactions.That doesn't mean that I believe the employer shouldn't do something to help and support the therapist - I absolutely do. However, my opinion is not legally binding - that is why I suggested she contact an employment attorney in her area so that she could get legitimate advice that can be supported by the federal, state and local laws pertaining to harassment.
I also posed the questions I did to get the therapist to examine how her words or actions might have contributed to the client wanting to date her. As a teacher of professional ethics for massage therapists for more than a decade, and as someone who has employed over 100 independent contractors/employees during my fifteen plus years as a massage therapist and business owner, I know first-hand that client-therapist communications can be unclear at times as well as how they are interpreted by both parties. This is especially true with newer or less experienced therapists and clients who are new to the policies, boundaries and ethics related to massage. That is also part of why ethics training is a mandatory CE requirement for NCBTMB certified therapists and most states with licensure.
I hope that I have helped you to better understand my stance and provided some additional resources for you. Know that I am a fierce advocate for the rights of the therapist as well as the ongoing need for education about professional ethics, harassment and sexual harassment in the massage/spa/wellness workplace.
Felicia
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