A woman named Amy Erin Blakely is suing her ex-employer after allegedly enduring gender discrimination and harassment about the size of her breast. Amy worked at the Devereux foundation, where she was a top executive. On an interview, Blakely, 43, said:
“It was very humiliating to know that senior members of our management team would focus on my breasts as opposed to my performance on my job,”
But there’s more. She was allegedly told that because she was “too sensual” and had “large breasts” men could not concentrate during the meetings. “I would use side doors and hide from those managers because I did not want to be subjected to more humiliation,” Blakely said.
Amy Erin Blakely has now partnered with Gloria Allred who will be representing her in this case.
On the other hand, Robert Kreider, President and CEO of Devereux Florida, responded:
“(The allegations) are purposefully inflammatory, and either spurious or twisted in content and context. In no way do these allegations represent the truth about our organization or our staff, but here is what does. We have a deep and abiding respect for women in our organization, as evidenced by the fact that more than 50 percent of our senior leadership team is female.”
A woman is suing her former employers for gender discrimination claiming she was ordered to hide her breasts because they were too large.
A Florida woman executive is suing her former employer for gender discrimination, claiming she was told to hide her large breasts because they were too large and were distracting to other employees.
Amy-Erin Blakely claims she endured six years of harassment about the size of her chest at the Devereux Foundation, the country’s largest not-for-profit provider of children’s mental health services in Orlando, Florida.
The former executive said she filed two internal grievances with the company but instead of receiving help, she was terminated the next day. “No woman should ever be subjected to such sexist and derogatory remarks,” said Amy-Erin Blakely.
Blakely said she’s a victim of discrimination in the workplace. The 43-year-old former assistant executive director said she was told other employees were distracted by the size of her breasts and that she was too sensual for further promotion.
“It was really a nightmare, because every day I had great trepidation and fear that I was going to either be humiliated, harassed or lose my job because of the way I looked, not based on my performance at all. My performance was exemplary.”
Miss Blakely has said she “always dressed professionally”. Blakely hired attorney Gloria Allred, a lawyer noted for taking on several high profile clients, including Rachel Uchitel, an alleged mistress of the golfer Tiger Woods.
The Florida resident worked for Devereux for about 13 years and said she was promoted more than a dozen times, but she said the remarks began in 2003 when she was promoted to assistant executive director of operations at the Florida office.
“I filed two grievances – one in the spring of 2009 and then one in the fall of 2009. The first one was inappropriately investigated and I was reprimanded for that. The second grievance was followed by me being terminated the next morning,” said Blakely.
Blakely’s suit is similar to one filed earlier this year by New York Citibank employee Debrahlee Lorenzana, who claimed she was sacked from her job with Citibank for being ‘too sexy.’ The 33-year-old banker also alleged she was told her looks were too distracting to male coworkers.
In Blakely’s case, Robert Kreider, President and CEO of Devereux Florida, responded with this statement:
An Orlando woman is suing her former employer for gender discrimination and harassment, according to ‘The Telegraph’.
Amy-Erin Blakely claimed she endured six years of harassment about the size of her breast at the Devereux Foundation. She was a top executive at the non-profit agency, which helps place children in foster care, especially those with therapeutic needs.
“It was very humiliating to know that senior members of our management team would focus on my breasts as opposed to my performance on my job,” Blakely said.
Blakely, 43, said she was told male colleagues could not concentrate in meetings because of her and that she was to gain promotion.
“I would use side doors and hide from those managers because I did not want to be subjected to more humiliation,” Blakely said.
Blakely went on to describe what she said were humiliating comments made by co-workers.
“It made me feel that I should be ashamed of how I look and of my body,” Blakely said.
Blakely has now hired high-powered attorney Gloria Allred to represent her. Allred is well-known for representing so-called wronged women. Most recently, she represented several of Tiger Woods’ alleged mistresses.
Blakely filed two harassment complaints with her company. She alleged that she was fired from her job as assistant executive director the day after filing a second complaint about the comments.
Allred said the harassment began around the time her client was promoted. Blakely rose to the position of Assistant Executive Director of Operations back in 2003.
Share This Story to Your Friends ---
No comments:
Post a Comment