Worker Gets Trial on Whether His Sex Drove Firing for Harassment

A male former security shift supervisor at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may be able to prove his discharge for allegedly sexually harassing a female subordinate was caused by sex discrimination, the Eastern District of Virginia ruled.

A statement allegedly made by Wilfred Blood, the CEO of Robert Whitley’s former employer SecTek Inc., could be direct evidence of anti-male bias, the court said.

According to SecTek’s then-manager of its USPTO program, Sean Storms, Blood told him it’s “easier and cheaper to fire a man rather than fight a woman who filed sexual harassment claims. Just look at the news.” ...