The surveillance company Verkada has recently come under fire for allegedly sexually harassing female employees. Verkada’s office is outfitted with its own brand of security cameras. In 2019, one of the sales directors gathered images of female employees that had been taken by the cameras. He then reportedly uploaded these pictures to a private Slack channel for male Verkada employees and made sexually explicit remarks about the women.

When employees found out about Slack channel, they reported it to higher-ups in the company. However, the employees say that the men in the Slack channel faced minimal consequences. The men were told they could either leave willingly or face a cut in their stock options. All the men chose to stay and deal with reduced stock options.

One of the employees who reported the incident was shocked by the leniency of the punishment. According to another employee, the sales team mostly consisted of men who had been football buddies in high school and had a low opinion of women. One of the board chairmen claimed that he deliberately hired athletes to promote a “fun” atmosphere in the workplace. However, this atmosphere also allegedly fostered sexism and sexual harassment.

In a statement, Verkada claimed that the company investigated the Slack channel as soon as it was brought to attention. Representatives said that the channel was deleted before they could access it, but they still gathered the names of the employees involved. They also claimed that they swiftly disciplined the men involved with the channel. In a separate statement, Verkada claimed that the company does not tolerate any form of sexual harassment and said it was working directly with the female employees who had been affected.

Dealing with sexual harassment is a reality for many women in the workplace. However, it doesn’t have to be. United States employment law makes it illegal for employers to sexually harass their employees or discriminate against them because of their gender.

You might wish to hire an employment law attorney to handle your case. An attorney may be able to file a suit against the company that exposes wrongful behavior and helps you receive justice.

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