Falls Church-Based Business Settles Anti-Gay Lawsuit out of Court

A Falls Church-based defense contractor settled an alleged anti-gay harassment lawsuit out of court earlier this month — but an advocate for gay rights wants to see the company do more.

A former employee of was awarded more than $150,000 by the company in the settlement, according to court records. Tico Almeida, a civil rights lawyer and founder of anti-gay workplace discrimination organization Freedom to Work, said the former employee claimed he was called homophobic slurs in front of managers.

DynCorp, a global government services provider "delivering support solutions for defense, diplomacy, and international development," denies the allegations, said spokeswoman Ashley Burke. She said the allegations are more than five years old; the former employee was working for the company in Iraq in 2006 when the alleged harassment took place.

“We are pleased to put the matter behind us," Burke said.

Almeida said he was glad to see DynCorp settle the case but wants them to do more to prevent future cases involving homophobic slurs from happening again.

“I noticed that the settlement, though good, was not perfect,” Almeida said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “It’s very important that DynCorp specify in their policies that people will not be punished for sexual harassment including sexual orientation.”

He said other large defense contractors like Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed Martin offer workplace protections for LGBT employees and he wants DynCorp to do the same.

Burke pointed to the company's harassment policies, which state the company has "no tolerance whatsoever for harassment based on race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, marital status, ancestry, genetic information, disability, or any status protected by federal, state, local or host country law."

"DynCorp International encourages a positive, supportive work environment where harassment or retaliation of any kind is simply not tolerated," Burke said. "In addition to anti-harassment training provided to all new hires, personnel receive refresher training, anti-harassment policies are posted throughout worksites, and our code of ethics and business conduct clearly states the company’s zero tolerance of harassment and retaliation.”

Almedia said that policy should not only state there is zero tolerance against sexual harassment, but also that it's wrong to harass someone for their sexual preference.

He's started an online petition to make DynCorp better protect gay and lesbian employees from harassment on the job.

As of Tuesday morning, the petition was just short of 40,000 signatures.

“The petition went viral last Friday,” Almeida said. “It went from a couple hundred to a few thousand signatures in a day.”

Almeida said if DynCorp is going to "continue profiting from billions of taxpayer dollars," then the corporation should judge its employees on their talent and hard work, not their sexual orientation or gender identity.