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Former CareerBuilder exec sues company for sexual harassment

June 15, 2018

A former CareerBuilder executive sued the company in federal court claiming sexual discrimination. The suit says the company had a culture that turned a blind eye toward sexual harassment and bullying of women. Examples of discrimination in the suit includes a male executive who, uninvited, followed a female executive to her hotel room as well as a female executive who tried to make other women cry.

Plaintiff Lori McInerney filed the lawsuit Tuesday. McInerney started at CareerBuilder in September 2002 and received upwards of eight promotions, it said. Her employment was terminated on March 15, 2017, after bringing forward allegations.

The lawsuit’s complaint says female executives feared that reporting bad behavior would negatively impact their careers or result in them being fired. McInerney began suffering migraine headaches caused by the stressful environment, at one point being admitted to an emergency room during her tenure at the job board.

CareerBuilder, based in Chicago, ranks as the fourth-largest job board in the world with estimated 2016 revenue of $669 million. It was sold last year to an investor group led by affiliates of Apollo Global Management along with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.

The allegations presented come from the complaint in the lawsuit and represent the plaintiff’s side, but they include:

When McInerney left a hotel bar on Jan. 23, 2016, a senior sales executive, Douglas Hoodack, allegedly said he was coming to her room and followed her, according to the suit. Chief Sales Officer John Smith allegedly gave Hoodack a nod of approval.

McInerney told Hoodack repeatedly “no,” but he wouldn’t leave saying “What the f**k are you going to do? I’m not leaving,” according to the lawsuit. He only relented when a customer happened to walk by. The same executive allegedly followed another female worker to her room and would not leave until she screamed.

In a separate incident, another senior sales executive asked McInerney in front of other executives and employees if she would have sex with a married person such as himself.

In 2016, McInerney started a position where she worked under Mary Delaney. Delaney had a reputation for being tough on female employees and that most women who worked for her quit, according to the lawsuit. Delaney “bragged on several occasions of how she likes to make women cry in the work place because they need to ‘toughen up.’”

“Delaney’s abusive and discriminatory conduct was pervasive throughout McInerney’s time working with her,” according to the lawsuit. “For example, Delaney made disparaging comments on McInerney’s status as a recent divorcee and single mother. She also made numerous references to her personal life and physical attributes — including several references to her breasts. Delaney did not make similar comments to male employees — either about their physical appearance or marital status.”

The lawsuit claims discrimination, retaliatory discharge and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Other sexual harassment lawsuits related to the staffing industry have also occurred recently. Real Time Staffing Services Inc., doing business as Select Staffing in Albuquerque, allegedly allowed female employees to be subject to sexual harassment while assigned to a unit of the Albuquerque Police Department, according to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The agency has filed a lawsuit against the staffing firm and announced it this week.