Woman: Recruiter sent lewd pic on LinkedIn
Unnamed plaintiff files lawsuit against ex-SunTrust exec
A former recruiter with banking company SunTrust used LinkedIn to send a sexually explicit photo to a prospective hire, a lawsuit claims.
LinkedIn is increasingly used by companies to recruit for white-collar positions.
In the suit, filed Tuesday, the unnamed plaintiff — described as a successful financial services professional who works at a California-based Fortune 500 multinational — said she had been discussing a possible job at Atlan- ta-based SunTrust.
But the messaging conversation took an abrupt and unwanted turn. The recruiter, Aaron Eichler, sent a nude photo of himself, exposing his genitals and suggesting the plaintiff and he “play” and that it would be a “late-night secret,” according to documents filed with the suit.
The suit seeks unspecified damages for sexual harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent retention against SunTrust Banks.
SunTrust chief communications officer Sue Mallino said Eichler no longer is with the company and that as soon as the company was made aware of the allegations it promptly began an investigation.
“No one should be subject to such behavior. We do not tolerate inappropriate conduct and have policies against such activity,”
The recruiter sent a nude photo of himself, exposing his genitals and suggesting the plaintiff and he “play” and that it would be a “late-night secret,” documents say.
Mallino said in a statement. Such conduct is unacceptable, “regardless of whether the individual acted on personal time using a personal device and his own LinkedIn account,” she said.
The case follows several highprofile incidents of sexual harassment at companies that have raised questions over whether corporate America does too little to stem behavior that creates hos- tile work environments for women, holding back their advancement.
The former head of Fox News, Roger Ailes, and his employer were sued by women working for the company claiming sexual harassment dating back decades and penalization if they didn’t comply. Before his death, Ailes had denied any wrongdoing. His employer, 21st Century Fox, had paid $45 million in settlements.
Last year, a female Tesla employee sued the electric-car company for sexual discrimination, alleging she was paid less than men doing the same job and subjected to harassing behavior such as catcalls in a work environment dominated by men. The company run by Musk has disputed the charges, saying they were without merit. She was fired this month, according to The Guardian.
At Uber, a female ex-engineer at the company described being sexually propositioned by her manager over company chat message shortly after starting the job. The revelations contributed to a leadership crisis at the ride-hailing start-up, whose CEO took a leave of absence Monday.
Social media such as LinkedIn isn’t creating harassing behavior, but social media does make visible things that used to be invisible, said Kelly Dermody, a lawyer with Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein in San Francisco.
“They’re not just happening in a conference room that no one else is in,” she said.
The majority, though not all, of such cases involve men harassing women. According to the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, about 85% of sexual harassment allegations filed with the commission were from women in 2016.