Man masturbated on call with customer service rep – and she couldn’t hang up, suit says

A Michigan woman is suing her former employer over corporate policies that she says forced her to endure repeated sexual harassment as a customer service representative, including being prohibited from hanging up on a man accused of masturbating on the phone.

The former customer resolution specialist filed the job discrimination lawsuit against Detroit-based energy company DTE Energy on April 26, records show.

The suit accuses the utility provider of maintaining policies that mean “CSRs (customer service representatives) are required to endure sexual harassment from callers or risk endangering their performance metrics, compensation, and employment status.”

According to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court, the woman “endured repeated egregious incidents of sexual harassment” by the same customer for about one year.

During the randomly routed customer service calls, the man is accused of telling the employee that he was naked and asking “if she liked that,” according to the complaint.

The suit says the customer also asked her what she was wearing, told her her “voice was sexy” and made “unmistakable sounds of masturbation” on three separate calls.

“We provide essential energy to millions of people throughout Michigan, and unfortunately that includes a very small number of people who behave inappropriately when they contact us,” DTE said in an emailed statement to McClatchy News.



“Our customer service representatives may transfer calls they feel are inappropriate to their leader, and we have mental health resources to help employees who need additional support,” the company said.

Despite the woman reporting every incident to her supervisors, the company failed to escalate, investigate, or intervene, the lawsuit said, instead reminding the woman that she was “required per DTE policy to stay on the call and not hang up.”

The woman’s supervisor said she knew of the customer and that he “sexually harassed other female customer service representatives,” according to the complaint.

The employee was told she could not block the man’s number because “according to DTE policy, the customer might need to contact the company in an emergency,” the suit said.

The man did not have an active account, but he did have an outstanding balance DTE was attempting to collect, the complaint said. According to WJBK, he owed $500.

The lawsuit said, the employee developed “severe psychological symptoms, including emotional distress, and fear and anxiety each time she reported to work,” and as a result, took a medical leave in February 2023.

During this time, she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Detroit Free Press reported.

“I started not sleeping and having nightmares of this person being in my house, someone I don’t even know what his face looks like ... I just broke down,” the woman told the outlet.

She was terminated from her job on Sept. 12 “because she was unable to return to work due to psychological disability caused by DTE’s violation of her civil rights,” the suit says.

The former employee is seeking damages, including reinstatement within DTE while “accommodating her psychological limitations” and compensatory relief.

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