How can I fight “fired for sexual harassment”?

Question:

My wife and I worked at the same job for the past 2 years. During the last 6 months of our working there, we had a change of management, and our new boss ended up firing us for sexual harassment. The exact reasons were that a couple of coworkers felt harassed by me and my wife hugging and kissing. We did not make out with each other. We were hardly scheduled together, so our hugging and kissing was us usually saying goodbye to each other as one of our shifts ended.

Although at the time I didn’t know that could get us fired, we were never warned that it could get us fired. And I’m not sure if companies actually do this, but I was told I could have been given the option to quit without incurring the “sexual harasser” label. But now when I apply for a job, I will have sexual harassment on my file just for loving my wife. Is there a way I can fight this, at the very least just to get that label removed?

Sorry if I worded it wrong. I was told by a family member I could have been given the option to quit, but the company didn’t make that offer. I’m not sure if they are supposed to offer or not.

Answer:

You can be fired for any reason so long as it’s not an illegal reason. You can file a complaint with the EEOC, but you need to have some pretty good documentation to have them investigated. Click here to learn how to document problems at work.

Quite frankly, what you guys did wasn’t severe enough to warrant “sexual harassment”. http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm

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