{"id":118659,"date":"2018-02-28T17:57:51","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T22:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/?p=118659"},"modified":"2018-02-28T17:58:32","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T22:58:32","slug":"flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the City of Houston, alleging that the Houston Fire Department (HFD) discriminated against two female firefighters on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that Jane Draycott and Paula Keyes were subjected to a hostile work environment based on sex when they were employed as firefighters at HFD\u2019s Station 54. According to the complaint, HFD\u2019s hostile work environment included males urinating on the walls, floors and sinks of the women\u2019s bathroom and dormitory, disconnecting the cold water to scald the women while they were showering, and deactivating the female dormitory\u2019s announcement speakers so the women could not respond to emergency calls.<\/p>\n

The complaint further alleges that the conduct culminated in death threats and vulgar slurs written on the walls of their work and living spaces at Station 54 and on their personal possessions. This conduct continued despite at least nine complaints made to management, according to the allegations.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Victims Paula Keys, left, and Jane Draycott said the racist, sexist graffiti have made them fearful of their lives. \/ Photo: Billy Smith II, Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lawsuit further alleges that HFD retaliated against Draycott in response to her complaints by permitting her co-workers to publicly disparage her in an attempt to prevent her from returning to work at Station 54 and that she was forced into early retirement because of her intolerable working conditions.<\/p>\n

Other female firefighters who had previously worked at Station 54 allegedly made similar complaints to HFD about sex-based discrimination prior to Draycott and Keyes working there. According to the complaint, HFD did not take meaningful steps to stop the discrimination.<\/p>\n

Through this lawsuit, the United States seeks to require HFD to develop and implement policies that would prevent sex discrimination and retaliation. The United States also seeks monetary relief for Draycott and Keyes to compensate them for the damages they sustained as a result of the alleged discrimination.<\/p>\n

\u201cFar too often, women are targeted and harassed in the workplace because of their sex,\u201d said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division. \u201cEmployees have the right to work in an environment that is free from sex discrimination and retaliation. The Civil Rights Division\u2014under the newly created Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Initiative\u2014will continue to work vigorously to protect employees from these workplace abuses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo employee should be subjected to a hostile work environment based on their sex,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. \u201cWe will aggressively protect employees who are victims of sex discrimination and retaliation and pursue employers who violate the law.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the City of Houston, alleging that the Houston Fire Department (HFD) discriminated against two female firefighters on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit alleges that Jane Draycott and Paula Keyes were subjected to a hostile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5409,"featured_media":83579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[1,54],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nJustice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston - Breaking911<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston - Breaking911\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the City of Houston, alleging that the Houston Fire Department (HFD) discriminated against two female firefighters on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit alleges that Jane Draycott and Paula Keyes were subjected to a hostile […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking911\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Breaking911\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-28T22:57:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-28T22:58:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/justice-department.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"T. Grant Benson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/GrantB911\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Breaking911\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"T. Grant Benson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"T. Grant Benson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8847e8dd9a4f75600ebf91da20833ab8\"},\"headline\":\"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-28T22:57:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-28T22:58:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/\"},\"wordCount\":454,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Breaking News\",\"Crime\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/\",\"name\":\"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston - Breaking911\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-28T22:57:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-28T22:58:32+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crime\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/category\/crime\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking911\",\"description\":\"Best Non-Mainstream, Alternative News Source\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Breaking911\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/An0oOH0m6If4xThWzonPime0GLwB7VIUfJqruEluqmXT.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/An0oOH0m6If4xThWzonPime0GLwB7VIUfJqruEluqmXT.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Breaking911\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Breaking911\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Breaking911\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/breaking_911\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCi7BCQ_T4m6si1IQOnuz6RA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8847e8dd9a4f75600ebf91da20833ab8\",\"name\":\"T. Grant Benson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/21227aab5f80040c19d732c1a122558a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/21227aab5f80040c19d732c1a122558a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"T. Grant Benson\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/Breaking911.com\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/GrantB911\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/author\/grant\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston - Breaking911","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston - Breaking911","og_description":"The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the City of Houston, alleging that the Houston Fire Department (HFD) discriminated against two female firefighters on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit alleges that Jane Draycott and Paula Keyes were subjected to a hostile […]","og_url":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/","og_site_name":"Breaking911","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Breaking911","article_published_time":"2018-02-28T22:57:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-28T22:58:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/justice-department.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"T. Grant Benson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/GrantB911","twitter_site":"@Breaking911","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"T. Grant Benson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/"},"author":{"name":"T. Grant Benson","@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8847e8dd9a4f75600ebf91da20833ab8"},"headline":"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston","datePublished":"2018-02-28T22:57:51+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-28T22:58:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/"},"wordCount":454,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Breaking News","Crime"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/","url":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/","name":"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston - Breaking911","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-02-28T22:57:51+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-28T22:58:32+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/flash-justice-department-files-lawsuit-city-houston-texas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Crime","item":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/category\/crime\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against City of Houston"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/","name":"Breaking911","description":"Best Non-Mainstream, Alternative News Source","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#organization","name":"Breaking911","url":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/An0oOH0m6If4xThWzonPime0GLwB7VIUfJqruEluqmXT.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/An0oOH0m6If4xThWzonPime0GLwB7VIUfJqruEluqmXT.jpg","width":500,"height":400,"caption":"Breaking911"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Breaking911","https:\/\/twitter.com\/Breaking911","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/breaking_911\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCi7BCQ_T4m6si1IQOnuz6RA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8847e8dd9a4f75600ebf91da20833ab8","name":"T. Grant Benson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/21227aab5f80040c19d732c1a122558a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/21227aab5f80040c19d732c1a122558a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"T. Grant Benson"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/Breaking911.com","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/GrantB911"],"url":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/author\/grant\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/justice-department.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6oxZ0-uRR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118659"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5409"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}