When we think of gender discrimination and sexual harassment, we typically picture a woman being harassed by a man. But it can go the other way. In fact, over 16 percent of harassment lawsuits filed last year were filed by men, according to EEOC data.

A recent case in Michigan is a good example. A man who worked at a LensCrafters store there as an optical lab technician says a female employee sexually harassed him, but the company ignored his complaints. Now, LensCrafters has agreed to pay him $192,500 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit the man filed.

According to the Huffington Post, the man claims in his lawsuit that a female co-worker told him in 2006 that she found him attractive and wanted to have sex with him. She also apparently talked openly about his body, touched him and told him she loved him. At a holiday party in 2008 she allegedly kept attempting to grab his crotch. He says he felt forced to leave.

The man says he tried complaining to LensCrafters management about the problem, but he was largely ignored. However, when the woman filed a sexual harassment claim against him - which he denied and which was later apparently dropped - the company investigated right away.

The man says he felt forced to quit, and since then he has had difficulty finding work as an optical lab technician because LensCrafters owns so many affiliated companies, such as Pearle Vision. He also says he suffered from anxiety and depression.

According to the Huffington Post, the EEOC agreed to take up his case and filed a lawsuit against LensCrafters in 2009. "Some people... don't believe it can happen to a man," he tells the Huffington Post. "That's far from the truth."

Source: Huffington Post, "LensCrafters settles female-on-male sexual harassment case," 20 June 2011