The "glass house" axiom came to mind today when a senior, DC-based, pro-family leader called Illinois Review to point out possible hypocrisy on behalf of the Oberweis campaign and their accusations about their opponent's affiliation with a sexual predator.
What potential hypocrisy?
Well, the Oberweis campaign has strongly criticized State Senator Chris Lauzen for taking $100,000 in campaign donations from an individual who spent time in jail for soliciting a minor-aged prostitute.
However, in 2002 the Oberweis Dairy was sued by a 16-year-old ice cream scooping employee, who claimed she'd suffered sexual harassment and discrimination by her 24 year old Oberweis Dairy supervisor. The EEOC case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Seventh District. While a lower court decided in favor of Oberweis Dairy (Doe v. Oberweis, No. 03 C 4774 (N.D. Ill. April 6, 2005) the court of appeals sided with the victim.
As reported in Bureau of National Affairs' section on employment law:
In a separate amicus brief also supporting Doe, the National Employment Lawyers Association and others make a more ambitious argument: because Doe was a teenager when she allegedly was sexually assaulted by her adult supervisor, she is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of whether the harassment was severe or pervasive enough under federal law.
"We urge that the Court make explicit for employers in our Circuit what the case law already implies: that underage employees need special protection against sex harassment from adults. Employers that rely heavily on a teen workforce--here, the scoop shop operated by Oberweis--must take additional precautions to prevent adult managers from abusing their authority," the brief states. "At a minimum, sexual activity with minors criminalized by state law must be held severe and unwelcome as a matter of law."
"Doe" failed to cooperate with the EEOC's interview process, and thus, the administrative protocol was violated and her claim was thrown out, although the EEOC notified "Doe" she had the alternative to sue Oberweis Dairy. The report goes on:
According to the district court opinion, Doe's harassment claim is based on a single sexual encounter between Doe and her then 24-year-old supervisor at his apartment, and whether Doe "welcomed" the encounter was proper to consider.
In its brief, NELA--joined by Women Employed and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault--contends that Doe's status as a teenager entitles her to special protection under Title VII, and "welcomeness" is not properly part of the equation. It cites a brief submitted by a group including the American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association in an earlier case and studies on the functioning of the "teen mind."
"Teen minds, science tells us, do not fully mature at age 16," the brief charges. "Developments in neuroscience and behavioral research inform our commonsense assumption that minors are objectively distinct from adult employees in their ability to cope with and fend off harassment."
It will be interesting to see what effect, if any, this revelation will have on the campaign. We'll keep this file open.
