How Do I Stick It out in What Is Still a Hostile Environment

The City of San Jacinto, California, had an established policy regarding sexual harassment, first put into effect in 1976 and revised in 2009. Its definition of a hostile work environment included the prohibition of the display of pornography. Lacey Jefferson, a female firefighter in San Jacinto, complained about what she perceived as extremely graphic and deviant porn that her nine-year-old son took home from the fire station where she served. He had taken the magazine from the fire station men's room. Her first action was to contact her supervisor who stated that he contacted Employee Relations for the city and was acting according to their guidance. She then contacted Employee Relations directly; she thought that they too were unresponsive. At that time she believed that retaliatory harassment began, which caused her to suffer stress resulting in physical symptoms. In her view, fellow firefighters reportedly withheld vital information from her and taunted her. She settled the lawsuit but was left wondering what to do in the aftermath. She thought a transfer to another station would be better, which she did. People too often don't forgive and forget and the legacy of bitterness she felt, as well as the obstacles of dealing with the barriers of the old boys' network, including shunning, made her work life difficult for her. She had to remain as a firefighter for six more years to complete the requisite 25 years. As a firefighter, she had time for a side job which she had just developed (i.e., a paralegal service). She wasn't the kind of person that would just be quiet when she encountered problems in the fire department; she would continue to speak up for women firefighters, even if it meant ongoing alienation from her superiors. But the general problem remained, how could she maintain her psychological health working six more years with colleagues that were still somewhat hostile? Press Accounts of Lawsuit Since firefighters sometimes worked long shifts where they could be absent from their families for as many as four days and nights, their families sometimes visited fire stations and shared meals with them. During a visit to the fire station where Lacey worked, her 9-year-old son allegedly found hard core pornography in the men's room. It's conceivable that visitors, such as school children, could also stumble upon the pornography during a visit so the risk wasn't just isolated to visiting families. In a follow-up article published in the local newspaper, the media reported that Jefferson felt that while the investigation was being conducted, she was shunned and taunted. Porn was left in the common area of her station seven months after the investigation had started. This phase of the unfortunate incident was concluded on October 20, 2009 when the City Council approved the settlement with the Lacey for $200,000. In the settlement there was no winner or loser. As a result of the settlement neither side spoke openly about the case again. But the aftermath presented Lacey with an awkward work environment where she faced what she perceived as resentful colleagues and superiors. Aftermath She now faced the decision of how to deal with the aftermath. Jefferson perceived that before the incident people liked her and her work, but that afterward people were wary of her, especially people who only had known her after the lawsuit. In her view, she had four friends that had remained loyal to her throughout the ordeal. Lacey believed people should be fair and speak the truth; but after the incident, she found that she was less forthcoming with information sharing. But she would denounce people again if faced with comparable circumstances. And as a woman in a job dominated by men, she was used to having to go the extra mile to work well and to follow her principles. On a personal note, she was going through a divorce, so she needed a well-paying job to provide for her and her two children. …