The United Auto Workers union has been named in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a female Chrysler worker. The suit comes as the UAW attempts to organize at least one transplant automaker.
UAW Local 51 member Janet Burney claims she was fired after she ended her relationship with Pat Byers, the son of UAW official. Byers’ father, John Byers, was a top-ranking UAW official, having held the office of co-director of the UAW- Chrysler National Training Center as recently as 2010.
According to the lawsuit, the two started dating in December 2007, at which time Burney was given a new job in special assignment and a pay raise from $30 per hour to $40.35 per hour. However, the relationship ended in March 2010, at which time Burney was asked to pack her office and leave the building. The order reportedly came from the UAW’s Solidarity House headquarters.
“Pat Byers had told the plaintiff repeatedly that as long as she was with him her job in special assignment was secure,” Burney’s lawyer Richard A. Meier wrote in the lawsuit. “(Burney) was terminated because she is a female who refused to continue a sexual relationship with Pat Byers.”
No monetary figures were listed in the suit, but Burney is seeking compensation for lost wages, benefits and emotional damages. The UAW has yet to comment on the lawsuit.
According to the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center’s Web site, Pat Byers is a union official in charge of joint training and tuition-assistance programs.
References
1.’Chrysler autoworker…’ view
