{"id":27985,"date":"2020-01-10T11:44:59","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T16:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=27985"},"modified":"2020-01-10T11:44:59","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T16:44:59","slug":"south-dakota-usps-worker-sues-for-sexual-harassment-and-retaliation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2020\/01\/10\/south-dakota-usps-worker-sues-for-sexual-harassment-and-retaliation\/","title":{"rendered":"South Dakota USPS worker sues for sexual harassment and retaliation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w3.cdn.anvato.net\/player\/prod\/v3\/anvload.html?key=eyJtIjoiTElOIiwidiI6IjQyMzM0MTEiLCJhbnZhY2siOiJhbnZhdG9fbWNwX2xpbl93ZWJfcHJvZF80YzM2ZmJmZDRkOGQ4ZWNhZTY0ODg2NTZlMjFhYzZkMWFjOTcyNzQ5Iiwic2hhcmVMaW5rIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cua2Vsb2xhbmQuY29tL25ld3MvaW52ZXN0aWdhdGVzL3VzcHMtd29ya2VyLXN1ZXMtZm9yLXNleHVhbC1oYXJhc3NtZW50LWFuZC1yZXRhbGlhdGlvbi8iLCJwbHVnaW5zIjp7ImNvbXNjb3JlIjp7ImNsaWVudElkIjoiNjAzNjQzOSIsImMzIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cua2Vsb2xhbmQuY29tLyIsInNjcmlwdCI6Ii8vdzMuY2RuLmFudmF0by5uZXQvcGxheWVyL3Byb2QvdjMvcGx1Z2lucy9jb21zY29yZS9jb21zY29yZXBsdWdpbi5taW4uanMiLCJ1c2VEZXJpdmVkTWV0YWRhdGEiOnRydWUsIm1hcHBpbmciOnsidmlkZW8iOnsibnNfc3Rfc3QiOiJrZWxvIiwibnNfc3RfcHUiOiJOZXhzdGFyIiwiYzMiOiJrZWxvIiwibnNfc3RfZ2UiOiJOZXdzLFNwb3J0cyxOZXdzLE5ld3MsRXllIG9uIEtFTE9MQU5ELE5ld3MsSW52ZXN0aWdhdGVzLE5ld3MsTG9jYWwgTmV3cyxOZXdzLFlvdXIgTW9uZXkgTWF0dGVycyxTcG9ydHMifSwiYWQiOnsibnNfc3Rfc3QiOiJrZWxvIiwibnNfc3RfcHUiOiJOZXhzdGFyIiwiYzMiOiJrZWxvIiwibnNfc3RfZ2UiOiJOZXdzLFNwb3J0cyxOZXdzLE5ld3MsRXllIG9uIEtFTE9MQU5ELE5ld3MsSW52ZXN0aWdhdGVzLE5ld3MsTG9jYWwgTmV3cyxOZXdzLFlvdXIgTW9uZXkgTWF0dGVycyxTcG9ydHMifX19LCJkZnAiOnsiY2xpZW50U2lkZSI6eyJhZFRhZ1VybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vcHViYWRzLmcuZG91YmxlY2xpY2submV0L2dhbXBhZC9hZHM%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\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) \u2014 A Sioux Falls woman, who is marking her 20-year career with the United States Postal Service, is suing her employer in federal court for sexual discrimination and retaliation.<\/p>\n<p>Cindy Ekeren works as a mail clerk at the USPS processing and distribution center on North 4th Avenue in Sioux Falls.<\/p>\n<p>Ekeren is accusing USPS of not following its own policies when it comes to sexual harassment and retaliating against her when she reported what she called a \u201cserial harasser\u201d at work.<\/p>\n<p>Ekeren says in April of 2018, a male co-worker repeatedly asked for her home address so he could come to her home and massage her and he told her that her body was driving him \u201ccrazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In court documents, Ekeren says she felt disgusted, anxious and worried about the situation because she could not entirely avoid contact with this co-worker while doing her job.<\/p>\n<p>Ekeren told a female co-worker, who said he had also made unwanted advances toward her, and that he had been previously accused of rape and had also harassed another female USPS employee.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/about.usps.com\/postal-bulletin\/2017\/pb22464\/html\/dlinks\/dlink2.pdf\">USPS\u2019 own written policy<\/a>, \u201cmanagers and supervisors are responsible for preventing harassment and inappropriate behavior could lead to illegal harassment and must respond promptly when they learn of such conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The policy also states that \u201creprisal against employees to raise a claim of harassment or report inappropriate conduct is illegal and can result in disciplinary action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27986\" src=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ekeren-USPS-Suit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"606\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ekeren-USPS-Suit.jpg 606w, https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ekeren-USPS-Suit-300x140.jpg 300w, https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ekeren-USPS-Suit-570x265.jpg 570w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 606px) 100vw, 606px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) \u2014 A Sioux Falls woman, who is marking her 20-year career with the United States Postal Service, is suing her employer in federal court for sexual discrimination and retaliation. Cindy Ekeren works as a mail clerk at the USPS processing and distribution center on North 4th Avenue in Sioux Falls. Ekeren [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","category-video-gallery","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27987,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27985\/revisions\/27987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}