Although pop princess Britney Spears has her share of legal troubles, more trouble lies ahead for the notoriously unstable musician as her former bodyguard had recently officially filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her.
According to the complaint filed by Fernando Flores, who was hired last February 2010 as a bodyguard in Spears’ home in Calabasas, California, the singer repeatedly made frequent unwanted sexual advances towards him.
In his lawsuit, he further alleged that Spears paraded around her home nude, engaged in "sex acts" in front of him and even physically abused her son Sean Preston with Flores' belt. He also said that he witnessed violent quarrels with Spears’ boyfriend.
Flores claimed that he was shocked and disgusted by the incident but when he reported it to his supervisor, his complaints were ignored and mocked. Employed by Advanced Security Concepts Corporation, he was even told, “You know you liked it.”
The former bodyguard is suing Spears for unspecified damages for intentionally inflicting emotional distress.
In answer to the lawsuit, the indignant camp of Spears claimed that the former bodyguard is merely trying to take advantage of the singer and make a name for himself. In a statement from the popstar’s website, it was alleged that the California Department of Children and Family Services has already investigated the accusations and closed the case without any action.
Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline through his attorney also leapt to her defense and said that the accusations were a product of economic motives and are baseless. The singer and her attorneys further stated that they are confident that the case will be dismissed by the court.
While the outcome of this case will be decided by the courts, it isn’t really that uncommon for male employees to be subjected to sexual harassment. In 2009, out of the nearly 12,696 sexual harassment complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, only about 12 percent of these were filed by men.
The law does not distinguish the gender of the victim, and neither does the victim have to be of the opposite sex. Under the law, so long as the employer’s sexual advances and conduct is unwelcome, continuous and affects a person’s employment, a sexual harassment lawsuit can be filed.
According to the complaint filed by Fernando Flores, who was hired last February 2010 as a bodyguard in Spears’ home in Calabasas, California, the singer repeatedly made frequent unwanted sexual advances towards him.
In his lawsuit, he further alleged that Spears paraded around her home nude, engaged in "sex acts" in front of him and even physically abused her son Sean Preston with Flores' belt. He also said that he witnessed violent quarrels with Spears’ boyfriend.
Flores claimed that he was shocked and disgusted by the incident but when he reported it to his supervisor, his complaints were ignored and mocked. Employed by Advanced Security Concepts Corporation, he was even told, “You know you liked it.”
The former bodyguard is suing Spears for unspecified damages for intentionally inflicting emotional distress.
In answer to the lawsuit, the indignant camp of Spears claimed that the former bodyguard is merely trying to take advantage of the singer and make a name for himself. In a statement from the popstar’s website, it was alleged that the California Department of Children and Family Services has already investigated the accusations and closed the case without any action.
Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline through his attorney also leapt to her defense and said that the accusations were a product of economic motives and are baseless. The singer and her attorneys further stated that they are confident that the case will be dismissed by the court.
While the outcome of this case will be decided by the courts, it isn’t really that uncommon for male employees to be subjected to sexual harassment. In 2009, out of the nearly 12,696 sexual harassment complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, only about 12 percent of these were filed by men.
The law does not distinguish the gender of the victim, and neither does the victim have to be of the opposite sex. Under the law, so long as the employer’s sexual advances and conduct is unwelcome, continuous and affects a person’s employment, a sexual harassment lawsuit can be filed.
