PUNITIVE DAMAGES REDUCED – EEONews
A $1 million jury award was reduced to $200,000 by the trial judge. The Eighth Circuit holds that is still too high since the employer was not found to be acting with “malice or reckless indifference.”
Entries by EEO News
COMPLAINT TO MANAGER INVOLVED WITH HARASSMENT PREVENTS SUMMARY JUDGMENT – EEONews
A former salesperson sued a car dealership for sexual harassment. The court denied summary judgment. First, the dealership gave one of the employee’s leads to another employee. Since a jury could find this to be a tangible employment action, a trial is needed. Secondly, the employer’s discriminatory harassment policy permitted complaints to any supervisor, which […]
NO MEN WANTED – EEONews
A scorned CFO called an account manager a “cold-hearted bitch” and allegedly engaged in a physical altercation with his ex-girlfriend. Animosity from a failed romance is not sexual harassment and the court found that “the term ‘bitch’ was used as a pejorative term for a woman and that the term was not sexually harassing.
PUNITIVE AWARD VACATED – EEONews
An engineer was awarded $200,000 in punitive damages in a sex discrimination case. The 10th Circuit ruled that the employer should have been given a chance to present a “good faith” defense with respect to the punitive damages. At a minimum “an employer must at least adopt anti-discrimination policies and make a good faith effort […]
$400,000+ JURY VERDICT REDUCED TO $50,000 — THEN REVERSED – EEONews
A woman complained about demeaning graffiti. During an investigation the anonymous harasser struck again. The Tenth Circuit found that the employer’s investigation was “prompt, adequate and effective.” “The test is whether the employer’s response to each incident of harassment is proportional to the incident and reasonably calculated to end the harassment and prevent future harassing […]
FAILURE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT SECOND TIME RESULTS IN DISMISSAL – EEONews
A sales clerk complained about sexual harassment. The employer took corrective action and instructed her to report any renewed harassment. Her failure to report renewed harassment resulted in the dismissal of her claim.
CHURCH MAY FIRE LESBIAN YOUTH MINISTER – EEONews
While the 10th Circuit found that the Church’s actions could be viewed as “offensive” and incorrect, the church autonomy doctrine “prohibits civil court review of internal church disputes involving matters of faith, doctrine, church governance and policy” made for ecclesiastical and not secular reasons.
AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE IS NOT AVAILABLE AFTER COERCED SEX – EEONews
A tangible employment action occurs when a supervisor extorts sexual favors from an employee by conditioning the sex act on continued employment. Therefore, the Faragher/Ellerth affirmative defense is not available in such circumstances.
TEMPS SUE CAR DEALERSHIP – EEONews
Watson Chevrolet routinely hired temps as onsite telemarketer’s. The temps sued for sexual harassment and settled for $207,000.00. (The temps were not even shown the company’s discriminatory harassment policy).
SECRETARY'S SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIM FAILS BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T COMPLAIN PROMPTLY – EEONews
From day one, a secretary was subjected to sexual harassment by her supervisor. Nine months later, there was a complaint. Since there was no tangible adverse employment action and immediate corrective action after the complaint, the case was dismissed.