Editorial Notation:

The following article is written based on information provided by the victim, witnesses, and phone recordings. We have also been made aware that another security officer, who had been sharing this very story to co-workers, was reportedly written up for doing so.

When making any form of complaint an employee should feel safe, regardless of their gender identities. The concept of being retaliated on simply for being a Male victim isn’t unheard of, this is especially true in sexual harassment cases. While we have been able to make contact with some current employees, the Citizens of Potawatomi Nation tribe has ignored all requests for contact. Regardless of their silence, we have chosen to move forward with this article because we have enough witness accounts, including the victim, to feel comfortable in publishing this information. It is important to note that we will not be revealing names. This is because of the retaliatory of the Firelake Grand Casino and its associated Tribe.

Events leading up to the claim

According to provided employment records, our victim began working for this Casino in early December of 2022. It would be around three weeks later that he would come into contact with a housekeeper, the individual of which the complaint would ultimately be filed against. According to both, witnesses and the victim, nothing appeared to be off. Overall, the conversations appeared to be normal and work friendly. This would not last very long, however.

The victim states that it began with her asking, “are you trying to flirt with me?” she allegedly followed up with, “people are telling me that shy guys tend talk to people they want to flirt with but are afraid of being rejected.” It was at this point, our victim informed the unknown woman that he was married. In most cases this would have been the end of the ordeal. In this instance, it appeared to be a challenge for the young woman. Following this conversation, we are told by witnesses and the victim, the conversations began to divert into the realm of ‘unprofessional.’

According to sources, initially the comments were in regard to the victim leaving his wife for her. As the weeks continued, so did her comments. According to one source, they had overheard her make a statement about how the victim’s wife was a piece of work. We spoke to our victim in regard to this. He confirmed that such a comment had been made shortly before he decided to file the report. he continued to inform us that the comments were so frequent he was beginning to despise going to work, contrary to him loving his job.

The complaint and aftermath

“She began asking about his location when he was off work,” according to a witness. This would prompt the first of two complaints. With the other security officer, he made the first complaint to the third shift supervisor. The response he got was, “Ignore it. Policy says we can’t tell her anything anyway.” The comments themselves were completely disregarded. By the following day, another inappropriate comment would be made. This time the victim took the complaint to their Human Resources department. What unfolded, as a result of this, is nothing short of illegal.

Upon learning of the second complaint, the third shift supervisor had the victim meet with him. He was informed that the young woman was to have no contact with him; she continued having contact regardless. He was then reprimanded for bringing their HR department into the situation. “Because of you, they’re watching everybody closely now. We now have attention that wasn’t needed and could have been avoided if you had just listened to me.” According to the victim, he was then lectured about having ‘thicker skin.’

The following weeks would consist of various forms of retaliation from two of his three supervisors. Whenever trying to speak with the supervisors, they responded with, “what do you want?” The victim states that this only began after the report went to HR. The retaliation did not cease with just hostile words. According to sources, mobile phones were permitted at their postings if the facility was closed. Regardless of this supervisor approved activity, our victim found himself on the receiving end of a write-up. The reason: using his mobile device while on post.

Two days following the write-up, would mark the end of the victim’s employment. On Friday, 24/04/2023, the victim would be suspended pending an investigation. As of the writing of this article, no explanation as to why this suspension, or the investigation, have ever been explained. The end result of the investigation was the victim’s termination. Our reference for the reason comes directly from the call’s recording.

Within the recording, the victim is informed that he would be terminated due to ‘threats’ he allegedly made. No individual that we have spoken to could substantiate what these threats were, including the victim. The victim is heard contesting the accusation, stating that he had not made any threats. There is silence for approximately thirty seconds before the victim states that they altered the meaning of something he told a co-worker. We contacted that co-worker who confirmed that no threat was made within the conversation. Regardless of this, the victim was terminated by this tribe.

Everything we have seen, everybody we have spoken to, have confirmed that the events we covered were not only unethical, but also illegal. The hostility from the supervisors, the write-up on approved activities, the termination after an investigation; none of this would have occurred if the sexual harassment report had not been filed. It is clear that this company, and the Tribe who owns it, retaliated against this individual. As the situation currently is, the victim has no legal course of action. This is purely due to the fact that it is nearly impossible to file a case against a tribal nation.