I’m in Nevada and that’s where this happened. My position was as a line level IT tech that was assigned to a specific office to report to. I’m a guy and had a woman make advances to me 3 times that I turned down each time at work. I believe this is relevant information as well that I’m Autistic and didn’t necessarily understand that was happening. I made sure to tell this woman each time that I’m not interested and that I’m fine with being friends. Nothing more and I don’t want anything more. As far as I knew, everything was fine. Then later in that same week after I had turned that woman down for a 3rd time, I was pulled aside by someone accusing me of sexual harassment against that woman at work. They had said I made this woman incredibly uncomfortable at work and how I needed to apologize for my actions in front of everyone in the office. I of course denied everything because I know for a fact I didn’t say what I was being accused of saying. I was accused of saying the following:
- That they bent over good when cleaning the microwave in the break room.
- That I commented on how big their boobs were to another employee.
I have an excellent memory and know for a fact that I never said such things. I was then being iced out by everyone at the office. I kept hearing rumors that people were saying I’m dangerous, this isn’t the first time I have done something like that, how I’m a predator, and how everyone needs to stay away from me or they will make their lives hell as well. I also heard rumors that as long as I kept my head down, that they wouldn’t report anything further. I was of course very scared and afraid as a guy regarding all of this. I kept my head down and I didn’t talk to anyone at work unless it was about IT issues I needed to get resolved or if someone asked me something. I kept all conversations short and professional. I didn’t feel safe anymore talking to anyone at work, and I was being intentionally isolated from everyone. I could no longer function without having my headphones at work because otherwise I would have severe panic attacks without them due to all of this. As someone who is Autistic, I started to really disassociate just to survive at work and then proceeded to have constant shutdowns due to being constantly overwhelmed from it all.
Fast forward to now, I was put on administrative leave and then fired within a few days. I was accused of the following in the meeting with HR:
- I was spreading around the office that this woman wanted to be friends with benefits with me.
- I was destroying IT equipment in the office.
- I was previously talked to by my former supervisor about my “poor behavior” at work.
- I was previously instructed by my former supervisor to use the entrance/exit of the office that’s closest to my desk.
- I was spreading defamatory statements about this woman at work.
During my conversation with HR during the “fact finding conversation”, I was informed of only a timeframe and location on when/where these events took place. I was informed of the following:
- These comments were made the middle to end of April.
- The comments were made in the break room, my desk, and the desks of other people in the office.
I was fired the same day by HR a couple hours after they conducted their “fact finding conversation” with me. I was informed it was because I violated their policies regarding employee communication and how I violated their policy regarding a safe work environment for all employees.
I believe that what happened was retaliation for me turning down the advances of that woman. At least, that’s what I believe from research everything.
My questions are as follows:
- Would I have a case due to this issue?
- Does the fact that I have screenshots of text messages and voice recordings help me have a case?
- Does the fact that I worked for a law firm as an IT tech hinder me from finding a lawyer that would take my case?