Aldrich Law Firm, Ltd.
Aldrich Law Firm, Ltd.

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Judge rejects sexual harassment claim against Siegfried and Roy

The quintessential Las Vegas performers, Siegfried and Roy, are no longer battling Roy’s former personal assistant in federal court. The U.S. District Judge in Las Vegas has not only thrown out the former personal assistant’s sexual harassment claim, but has ordered him to pay Roy and Siegfried and Roy’s company, S&R Production Company, $37,415 as a sanction for bringing a baseless claim.

The assistant first filed his claim last year when he alleged that both Siegfried and Roy had created a hostile work environment. He said that the two had maintained a sexualized home and that he was terminated after he turned down Roy’s sexual advances. Despite claiming that he had been fired in retaliation for rejecting his employer’s sexual advances, the assistant has testified under oath that he had quit his employment with Roy.

In addition, the entertainers adamantly rejected the claim that the man had been working for their company, but rather insisted he was only working for Roy. This means that even if the assistant had been able to prove his claims, he would not be able to hold Roy personally accountable for sexual harassment claims under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Only companies, not individual persons, can be held liable for these types of sexual harassment claims.

After looking at the evidence, the federal judge ultimately agreed with Siegfried and Roy and dismissed the case. He determined that the former assistant’s “claims were not simply without merit, but blatantly and undeniably so.” He also ruled that the assistant had wasted the entertainers’ time and money, ordering him to pay attorney’s fees as a sanction for bringing frivolous claims.

Unfortunately for Siegfried and Roy, however, the assistant has taken his sexual harassment claim to state court.

Source: Las Vegas Sun, “Siegfried & Roy win round in sexual harassment lawsuit,” Steve Green, Sept. 22, 2011

John P. Aldrich
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