I work at a factory manufacturing medical devices in Maine. I’ve been told by a number of female coworkers that they have not only been sexually harassed by people, including the supervisor sexual harassment is reported to, but been told by HR they were “lying.” One person from HR even told another employee that a woman who reported our supervisor was “stirring the pot.”
This week another woman I work with opened up to me that a coworker had begun flirting with her in an uncomfortable way over text messages. We had a meeting this week about sexual harassment where they explained that sending inappropriate messages outside the workplace constitutes harassment. However, the supervisor (previously accused) told her that texting is NOT considered workplace harassment and their hands are tied about it, 2 days after attending the meeting.
I tried contacting a lawyer and they first told me to report it to HR (the ones covering up the allegations) and then that the victims have to be the ones to file reports with the Maine Human Rights Commission. These people do not want to come forward because they’re afraid of being ignored or ridiculed.
I genuinely have no idea what to do and feel powerless to help these people. Does anyone know how to handle this?