A Hanover woman has cited her former employer for engaging in unlawful employment practices.
Dorothy Henson filed a lawsuit Aug. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against J&W Caulking Applicators Inc. of Oxford, alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.
According to the complaint, Henson was subjected to a hostile work environment as soon as she began working for the defendant in September 2014. The suit states she was sexually harassed by the defendant's male owner, Wallace Ford, and was told to partake in illegal activities such as hiding the fact that certain employees were in the country illegally.
As indicated in the court filing, on Oct. 4, 2014, a few days after she sent a formal complaint about the sexual harassment and other illegalities to the co-owner of the company, who also happened to be Ford's wife, Henson was terminated. Henson claims she was wrongfully discharged in retaliation for objecting to the defendant's unlawful actions and her concerns about the actions were never addressed.
Henson seeks reinstatement, lost wages and benefits, back and front pay, actual damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and court costs, and other relief deemed appropriate by the court. She is being represented by attorneys Wayne A. Ely and W. Charles Sipio of Kolman Ely, P.C. in Penndel.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case number: 1:15-cv-01647-SHR