The Candace O’Brien
Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
As time goes on, we have concluded the minor characters associated with this Building Blocks Adoption Service, Inc. saga are more intriguing than the major characters. The minor characters in this production have shown themselves lower than Denise Lynn Harding-Hubbard and Richard J. Marco, Jr. When we uncover past exploits and expose them to the light of day it makes their exploits more entertaining. These past exploits are more sinister and diabolical than anything our majors have pulled.
Information on the minor cast of characters appearing on these pages comes in intervals. A good case in point is Candace O’Brien, the “Immigration Attorney” and minor adoption for-profit “specialist” running AdoptInternational.
In a roundabout way, we learned O’Brien read our website and was unhappy with her portrayal on these pages. O’Brien herself didn’t come directly to us and complain. They of no guilty guts deserve no glory. That’s neither here nor there.
There is good news for O’Brien: we’re not her! We don’t profit from the misery industry of adoption. We don’t break our arms patting ourselves on the back while decrying how we’re misunderstood. We were never tossed in jail in a foreign country.
Frequently, we do Google searches as a way of keeping the site up to date. After hearing how upset O’Brien was about her necessary appearance on our site, we Googled her name. What a surprise when we came upon this:
Although summary judgment was granted in favor for the employer Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc. by the US DC District Court of Appeals the description of events doesn’t portray Candace O’Brien in a favorable light.
The suit boils down to a he-said, she-said and it does appear frivolous. Reading between the lines, the Appellant Paul T. Currier seems to have been a disgruntled independent contractor.
Pertinent information from this case is below. Click on the link above to read the case in full. As is our usual modus operandi, we have highlighted pertinent, embarrassing information:
Appellant Paul Currier was hired as an independent contractor by appellee Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc., a non-profit Delaware corporation with primary operations in Prague, the Czech Republic. Appellant was to serve as a computer network engineer and systems analyst at the Prague location, and entered into a six-month contract with appellee to begin December 31, 1995 and to expire on June 30, 1996. 1
In February or March 1996, Currier went to a restaurant in Prague after work. Candace O'Brien, appellee's Director of Human Resources, was seated at a table with other co-workers. O'Brien, apparently inebriated, made disparaging comments regarding appellant's sexual prowess. She then unbuttoned his pants, squeezed his penis, and exposed his testicles. The following day, O'Brien-a supervisory official who had authority to fire appellant-instructed him that "he had better get in line [with her version of what happened] or he would have a problem with her." (O'Brien's "official version" maintained that appellant had voluntarily exposed himself at the table.) O'Brien further threatened that if appellant discussed the actual incident, his employment contract would not be renewed and he would have problems during the remainder of his existing contract.
Appellant took O'Brien's threats seriously, and refrained from mentioning the incident. But O'Brien often recounted the "official version," and when appellant was asked for his account by a co-worker in O'Brien's presence, he disputed the "official version." O'Brien warned appellant not to make such a mistake again.
Soon thereafter, Currier encountered one of the "problems" that O'Brien had promised. At a workplace social event, appellant had a heated discussion with a female co-worker about the definition of sexual harassment. The following day, he learned that O'Brien was investigating the incident and that he was suspected of sexual harassment against the female co-worker.
Although the investigation was without basis in fact, he received a termination letter from O'Brien on May 14, 1996. He viewed this accusation as a pretext for retaliating against him because of his earlier opposition to O'Brien's sexual harassment of him.
Less than a week after receiving O'Brien's termination letter, Currier met with Robert Gillette, appellee's Director of Broadcasting and a higher ranking management official than O'Brien. Appellant told Gillette that his previous encounters with O'Brien made it impossible for O'Brien to conduct a neutral investigation of appellant's asserted sexual harassment of the female co-worker. Gillette promised to conduct a second investigation that would be fair and impartial, and assured Currier that there would be "no final determination" regarding his employment status until that second investigation was concluded.
Appellant stopped coming to work after receiving his termination letter, and his contract expired by its terms on June 30, 1996. But he did not give up his efforts to return to appellee's employ. Rather, he inquired several times about the status of Gillette's investigation.
Shortly before Thanksgiving 1996, he met with his former supervisor, Tom Morgan, and Gillette. Appellant was told that the investigation was still continuing and had not yet been concluded. Gillette referred to Morgan as appellant's present "boss" and said that Morgan "will always be your boss."
So, Candace engaged in what was considered to be “hostile environment” sexual harassment and fired an underling she had earlier groped and humiliated. Currier’s lawsuit, which was more concerned with getting his job back and whether RFE had really and truly fired him, served mainly to buttress the EEOC complaint he filed. Other than this appellate court decision, there is no indication as to how either his suit or the EEOC action were ultimately resolved.
We tried to contact Paul Currier at the email address he gives on his résumé but he did not reply.
Note that he mentions the RFE experience, while Candace leaves out the name “Radio Free Europe” from hers although she mentions the position. Afraid of strengthening the Google link, eh, Candace?
What were those governmental employees doing in the Czech Republic? It certainly wasn’t broadcasting to the Communist-held masses in Eastern Europe. Is that all they did in Prague was party down and get drunk on good Czech beer?
Seems she was just as fascinated by hanging with her employees tossing a few brews back as she was by the diverse cultures in Eastern Europe.