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Assumption That Men Welcome Sexual Harassment Is Sex Stereotyping In Violation Of Title VII

You don’t often see sexual harassment cases in which the woman is the aggressor and the man is the victim. Many people (including some judges) don’t interpret those facts to constitute sexual harassment in violation of Title VII. That’s why the recent case of EEOC v. Prospect Airport Services from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is so important.

What Happened In The Case

Rudolpho  Lamas worked for Prospect Airport Services at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. He worked as a passenger assistant helping passengers who needed wheelchair assistance.

Lamas, a recent widower, started working for Prospect in April of 2002. That fall, Sylvia Munoz, a married co-worker began making sexual advances to Lamas. Munoz repeatedly:

• propositioned him for sex
  

• asked him out
  

• wrote him love notes which were sexually explicit
  

• performed gestures simulating fellatio when he walked by
  

• recruited co-workers who were telling him that she loved him and wanted him
  

• approached him in the parking lot at work and gave him a sexually suggestive photograph

Lamas never made overtures towards Munoz and told her and their co-workers over and over that he was not interested – but she didn’t stop.

Lamas complained to his boss but nothing was done. He talked to his next supervisor up the chain, Dennis Mitchell, and gave him one of the “love” notes. Mitchell told Lamas that he “did not want to get involved in personal matters.” Eventually Mitchell told Munoz that he knew she was “pursuing a coworker … and the coworker wanted the advances to stop.”

But Munoz did not stop and the harassment continued. He testified that every time he walked by her there was something -- a gesture, licking her lips suggestively, asking if he “wanted to have some fun”, performing “blow job imitations” -- and that it was embarrassing and causing constant pressure at work.

Co-workers began to speculate that Lamas was a homosexual -- so in addition to having to deal with Munoz’s remarks and gestures, Lamas had to face co-workers remarks suggesting that he was gay. Lamas complained to four different Prospect management officials about the harassment, but nothing was done to stop it. Munoz kept up the behavior.

Lamas felt helpless, was crying, and consulted a psychologist about his distress. His performance began to suffer. Lomas was demoted because of “complaints about job performance “and his “negative attitude.” A few monthslater, in June of 2003, Lamas was fired.

The District Court Decision

Munoz filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Nevada for sexual harassment. The district court concluded as a matter of law that Munoz’s conduct was not severe and pervasive enough to amount to sexual harassment for a reasonable man.  

In its decision grating judgment against Lamas, the district noted that most men would have “welcomed” the behavior, but Lomas admitted that due to his Christian background he was embarrassed instead. It also noted that Munoz never filed a written report complaining about the conduct.  Lamas appealed.

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 Here are three Short Takes about some interesting sex discrimination cases worth noting:

Verizon Field Technician Wins Hostile Environment Case

A Verizon field technician scored a significant victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last month in the case of Pucino v. Verizon Communications, Inc. Pucino claimed that she was singled out because she was a woman, subjected to vicious treatment, harsh and dangerous work conditions unlike her male counterparts, denied equipment, denied access to public restrooms, forced to use bathrooms without locks, denied overtime, subjected to discipline for conduct that was commonplace among the men, and constantly referred to as a “bitch” and “stupid”.

The district court concluded that the challenged conduct amounted to “nothing more than minor annoyance and inconveniences” and that the allegations were too conclusory and non specific because Pucino stated that the alleged abuse occurred “constantly” and “frequently.”

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed stating that a trier of fact “might easily find that the harassment and abuse was sufficiently severe to alter Pucino’s working conditions” and that a “plaintiff, need not recount each and every instance of abuse to show pervasiveness” in order to prove a sexual harassment hostile environment case.

The case is particularly important on this last point – that is, that the victim is not required to present a list of specific acts in order to prove a sexual harassment case. Pucino’s testimony that the abuse, which was described in some detail, constant and corroborated by other witnesses, was sufficient to support the claim.

Police Officer Wins Appeal On Denial Of Promotion Sex Discrimination Case

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a jury verdict last week in favor of a female police officer whose constitutional rights were violated when she was denied a promotion to the position of Detective because of her sex in the case of Lewallen v. City of Beaumont.

Although “a female employee is not required to show that she was a more qualified applicant than her male counterpart" to prove sex discrimination in employment, stated the Court, Tina Lewallen presented evidence that she had numerous attributes that made her more qualified for the Detective position than either of the male applicants that were selected instead of her including :

• a college degree
• more experience
• an outstanding reputation
• extra law enforcement training
• receipt of a highly prestigious award

As the Court stated:

Based on the extensive record evidence of the disparity between the relative qualifications of Lewallen and Breiner, a reasonable jury could find that Lewallen was the better of those two applicants – indeed, the best among all four applicants – and the the Department’s profferred  reasons for choosing the two make applicants ahead of Lewallen were but a gossamer pretext for sex-based discrimination.

In addition to the award to the plaintiff, the appeal affirmed an award of attorneys fees of $428, 421.75.

It’s important to understand that a victory in many civil rights cases includes an award of attorneys fees to the prevailing party. Therefore, Defendant employers in civil rights cases should carefully consider the strength of their defense before taking it to to a jury. This case is a good example of how a relatively small monetary award to the employee can result in a huge loss to an employer.

EEOC Settles Sexual Harassment Class Action Case For 5.8 Million

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Thursday that ABM Industries and ABM Janitorial Services will pay $5.8 Million dollars to settle a class action sexual harassment lawsuit involving 21 Hispanic female janitorial workers. The class members asserted that they were victims of varying degrees of unwelcome touching, explicit sexual comments and requests for sex by 14 male co-workers and supervisors, one of whom was a registered sex offender.

According to the EEOC, some of the harassers often exposed themselves, groped female employees’ private parts from behind and even raped one of the victims.  The suit charged that ABM failed to respond to the employees repeated complaints of harassment. The case, filed in 2007, claimed the conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

images: www.google.com/imgres  bensbiz.mlblogs.com aremploymentlaw.com 

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Harassing Conduct Need Not Be Sexual To Prove Hostile Environment Claim

When does rude conduct in the workplace support a hostile environment sexual harassment claim? The First Circuit Court of Appeals addressed this important issue in the case of Rosario v. The Department of the Army decided last week and you can bet it’s going to make a big difference in sexual harassment cases down the road.

 What Happened In The Case

Ruth Rosario, a civilian employee, worked at the Rodriguez Army Heath Clinic in Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico as a medical records technician. Her duties included checking patients in and maintaining computerized medical records. 

Rosario worked along side Ivan Arroyo who performed similar duties and trained her. According to the evidence, Arroyo was abusive to Rosario and others on a daily basis.

He threw medical records around, threw personal items in the garbage, disparaged co-workers with derogatory names and made racial comments. According to Rosario, Arroyo:

• Constantly criticized her clothes as too revealing
  

• Constantly talked about her underwear
  

• Walked behind her and made faces as he looked at the person she was talking to
  

• Complained about the way she would “walk, move, and talk”
  

• Would get men together to Rosario’s area where they would “meet, and talk, and then point at her and laugh”

Rosario complained to her supervisor, but the conduct continued.  About a year after the harassment began, Arroyo became Rosario’s supervisor.

Arroyo continued to criticize and mock Rosario and respond to her in ways she found humiliating. According to Rosario, Arroyo watched whatever she was doing or saying and challenged every decision she made. He told her she was fat, had delinquent children, and told her co-workers that she dressed like a “woman of the streets.” Rosario also presented evidence of sexually oriented jokes Arroyo got from the computer which he talked about and passed around.

As a result of Arroyo’s behavior Rosario felt uncomfortable every day, did not want to go to work, became depressed, started losing her hair, experienced panic attacks, and was eventually hospitalized. She needed psychiatric treatment, medication, and attributed the breakup of her marriage to her situation at work.

Rosario filed a formal discrimination complaint with the Army’s Equal Employment Opportunity Office. The agency found against her.

The Lower Court Rules Against Rosario

At the conclusion of the Army’s EEO proceedings, Rosario filed a lawsuit alleging gender and national origin discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  After dropping the national origin claim, the Federal District Court ruled on Rosario’s gender-based hostile work environment claim and found against her.

The court held that the record showed “Mr. Arroyo [to be] a rude man that lacked courtesy and professionalism,” but the evidence was inadequate to prove a violation of Title VII. The court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants. Rosario appealed.

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Here are a few Short Takes worth sharing:

Sex Bias Case Ends With Huge Punitive Damages Award

The drug maker Novartis was hit with $250 million in punitive damages last week because of discrimination against thousands of female sales representatives. Issues involved discrimination in pay, promotion and pregnancy. The punitive damages award represented 2.6 of the company’s 2009 $9.5 billion revenue. Earlier in the week, the jury awarded $3.3 million dollars in compensatory damages to 12 of the women who testified. The case is reported to be the largest discrimination verdict ever.  

Genetics Discrimination

Complaints were filed against MX Energy, a Connecticut natural gas retailer, under Title II of  Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which prohibits genetic information discrimination in employment. The new federal law took effect on November 21, 2009.

GINA prohibits discrimination against employees or applicants because of genetic information. GINA also restricts acquisition of genetic information by employers and other entities covered by Title II, and strictly limits the disclosure of genetic information.

The charging party Pamela Fink, claims that her employer fired her, despite years of glowing evaluations, after learning she tested positive for the breast cancer gene. Fink filed complaints against her employer with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. About 90 GINA-related complaints have been filed nationwide since the law went into effect. This should be an interesting case to follow. For more about genetic discrimination, read here.

Rights Of Undocumented Workers

With all the talk about illegal immigration, one might wonder what the rights are of the over eight million undocumented workers in this country. Carolina Nunez, a law professor at Brigham Young University's Reuben Clark Law School, wrote an interesting article about the topic which you can read here.  The piece appeared in the Spring 2010 issue  of the Clark Memorandum, a publication of BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.

Should undocumented workers enjoy the same workplace protections that authorized workers enjoy? When and how much should immigration status matter? Does being here count for anything? It is no surprise that the answers are less than clear.

Recent Cases Of Interest From The Circuits

Plaintiff Wins FMLA Appeal: In Goelzer v. Sheboygan County, Wisconsin  Dorothy Goelzer was fired from her administrative job with the county government after 20 years. Her supervisor told her about the termination decision two weeks before she was scheduled to begin two months of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Goelzer had taken a significant amount of authorized FMLA during the four preceding years to deal with her own health issues as well as those of her husband and mother. The defendants claimed she was fired because they wanted to hire someone with a “greater skill set.” The district court granted judgment against Goelzer.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed this month stating that comments suggesting frustration with her use of leave, Goelzer’s favorable performance reviews, and the timing of her termination could lead a jury to conclude that Goelzer was fired because she exercised her right to take FMLA. This is a very good case for those who are claiming an interference or retaliation claim under the FMLA.

Employers Liable For Third Party Harassment: In Beckford v. Department of Corrections, Melanie Beckford, and thirteen other female employees, claimed that the Florida Department of Corrections failed to remedy the sexually offensive conduct of inmates  -- including the frequent use of gender-specific abusive language and pervasive gunning, the notorious practice of inmates openly masturbating toward female staff. The jury found in favor the plaintiffs and awarded each $45,000 in damages.

The Department appealed and contended that it could not be liable under Title VII unless its staff actively encouraged or participated in the harassment. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the verdict and concluded that the jury was entitled to find the Department liable because it unreasonably failed to remedy the sexual harassment by its inmates. The Court said:

It is well established that employers may be liable for failing to remedy the harassment of employees by third parties who create a hostile environment. …It makes no difference whether the person whose acts are complained of is an employee, an independent contractor, or for that matter a customer.

Employees are often harassed at work by individuals who are not employees. This case, which holds that employers are liable for harassment by third parties, is an important affirmation of this particular aspect of employer liability under Title VII.

images: www.hivplusmag.com      charityrisk.squarespace.com

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Here are a few Short Takes worth sharing:

Sex Discrimination

Ninth Circuit Certifies Wal-Mart Class Action: In Dukes v. Wal-Mart, a decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on April 26^th, the Court certified a class in a Title VII lawsuit involving 1.5 million women seeking compensation for back pay. The Court remanded the case to the district court for a determination regarding punitive damages based upon several factors set forth in the decision. The next step is most likely a request for the Supreme Court to hear the case. For more about the case, see the California Punitive Damages Blog.  For an interesting story about Betty Dukes, the Wal-Mart greeter and lead plaintiff  see the article here from the Huffington Post. This case is reported to be the largest class action in history.

Sexual Harassment

EEOC Collects $471,000 In Sex Harassment Case: The EEOC reported last week that Everdry Marketing and Management paid $471,096 in damages, plus $86,581 in post-judgment interest to 13 victims of sexual harassment. The payout stems from a four week jury trial in Rochester, New York and a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision which affirmed the award in favor of the plaintiffs. The case involved a prolonged period of physical and verbal sexual harassment of mostly teenage telemarketers by male managers and co-workers at Everdry’s Rochester, N.Y. location including demands for sex, groping, sexual jokes and constant comments about the bodies of women employees. The story presents another example of the widespread problem of teenage sexual harassment in the U.S

Has The Sixth Circuit Had An Attitude Adjustment?

Two cases last month out of the Sixth Circuit  Court of Appeals made me think that attitudes on employment discrimination cases may be shifting.

Summary Judgment Reversed In Race Discrimination Case: In Thompson v UHHSS Richmond Heights Hospital, Inc, the plaintiff was terminated from her position as a food production supervisor when she was told that her position was eliminated in a restructuring. Thompson believed  that she was selected for termination because of her race and filed a lawsuit. The district court granted summary judgment against her. The Sixth Circuit reversed finding that evidence of Thompson’s superior qualifications in comparison to the employee who assumed most of her job duties showed that she was replaced and also showed pretext. In addition, evidence that a supervisor said to “get rid of” certain black employees whom he called “troublemakers,"  which the district court gave “little weight," corroborated accusations of discriminatory behavior according to the Court.

Sexual Harassment Verdict Affirmed On Appeal: In West v. Tyson Foods,Inc. the Court affirmed a sexual harassment award including $750,000 for past and future mental distress, and $300,000 in punitive damages. In addition to great language on damages, the Court also addressed the sufficiency of reporting sexual harassment to one supervisor as constituting “notice” and a “missing evidence” jury instruction from which the jury is entitled to draw a negative inference. The plaintiff, an assembly line worker, was subjected to a barrage of verbal and physical harassment – 10 to 15 times per shift -- during her five weeks of employment at the Tyson Foods plant in Robards, Kentucky. The jury awarded more in damages that West's lawyer requested which the Sixth Circuit both addressed and confirmed.

 images: www.hickmankytourism.com

                www.reclaimdemocracy.org

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Complaints To Supervisor/Harasser Are Sufficient To Overcome Affirmative Defense On Hostile Environment Claim

There’s lots of meaty reading in the Second Circuit case of Gorzynski v JetBlue Airways Corporation decided this month. The 31 page opinion hits multiple issues including sexual harassment, age discrimination, race discrimination, and retaliation.

The Federal District Court threw out the case on summary judgment. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and this is why.

Facts Of The Case

It’s a long story, but here’s the gist of it.

JetBlue hired Diane Gorzynski as a customer service agent in January 2000 for its operation at Buffalo International Airport. She was 54 years old at the time. In May 2000 she was promoted to the position of Customer Service Supervisor and stayed in that position until she was fired on July 5, 2002.

The customer service supervisors were managed by James Celeste, the General Manager. William Thro, a regional manager, was responsible for overseeing the General Managers of several JetBlue stations. 

During her employment, Gorzynski experienced age and gender discrimination including sexual harassment. She also observed discrimination of other employees. The main culprit was her supervisor, James Celeste. 

Gorzynski complained  to Celeste on numerous occasions about the discrimination and harassment she experienced and about  the discrimination and harassment of her co-employees.

She was retaliated against and fired, she believed, because of her complaints.

The Lawsuit

Gorzynski filed a lawsuit claiming that JetBlue:

• discriminated against her because of gender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

• discriminated against her because of age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act

• retaliated against her for complaints to her supervisors about age and gender discrimination and race discrimination of co-employees in violation of Title VII and the ADEA

She also claimed numerous violations on the New York Human Rights Law.

The federal District Court granted JetBlue’s Motion for Summary Judgment of all claims. Gorzynski filed an appeal.

The Second Circuit Reverses

The Faragher/Ellerth Defense

One of the most important and interesting parts of the decision is its holding regarding JetBlue’s affirmative defense on which the District Court hung its hat to throw out Gorzynski’s sexual harassment claim – and it’s a holding which can effect lots of people.

In order to establish a hostile environment sexual harassment claim, a plaintiff must produce enough evidence to show that the workplace was:

• permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult that is

• sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim’s employment and

• create an abusive working environment

In analyzing a hostile environment claim, the court is required to “look at the record as a whole and assess the totality of the circumstances.”

In this case, Gorzynski presented evidence that Celeste:

• grabbed Gorzynsi and other women around the waist

• tickled them

• stared at them as if” he was mentally undressing them”

• made numerous sexual comments including remarks about wanting to suck on or massage their breasts.

The District Court did not consider this evidence. Instead, it found that JetBlue was entitled to win as a matter of law because of its “affirmative offense” under the Supreme Court Faragher and Ellerth decisions.

The employer is entitled to raise the defense in certain sexual harassment scenarios involving supervisors and co-workers if it can show that:

• it exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any harassing behavior and
  

• the plaintiff unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to avoid the harm

With respect to the first element, JetBlue presented evidence of its sexual harassment policy (contained in its employee handbook)  which stated that: “any crewmember who believes that he or she is the victim of any type of discriminatory conduct, including sexual harassment, should bring that conduct to the immediate attention of his or her supervisor, the People Department or any member of management.”

JetBlue argued that Gorxynski was not entitled to proceed on her sexual harassment claim because she failed to take advantage of the policy in the handbook when she:

• only complained to her supervisor -- the harasser
  

• did not complain to other members of management.

The District Court agreed with JetBlue and granted judgment in its favor on Gorzyynski's sexual harassment claim.

The Second Circuit rejected the District Court’s conclusion and reversed.  It stated:

We reject such a brittle reading of the Faragher/Ellerth defense. We do not believe that the Supreme Court, when it fashioned this affirmative defense, intended that victims of sexual harassment, in order to preserve their rights, must go from manager to manager until they find someone who will address their complaints.

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C.H. Robinson Loses Another Sexual Harassment Hostile Environment Appeal

I read about this case decided by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals last week with great interest. In it the Court held quite clearly that a constant flow of profanity in the workplace can constitute sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

After reading it I thought,  "this sounds familiar."  In fact I thought, "I've already written about this case," so I researched my blog and there it was -- an almost identical lawsuit against the same company for the same awful conduct decided in June by  the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and I thought, "doesn't this company ever learn?"

Reeves v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. is  a long decision -- 27 pages -- and one definitely worth the read. In a nutshell, here's what happened in the case.

The Facts

Ingrid Reeves worked as a sales representative from July 2001 to March 2004 in the Birmingham, Alabama branch of C.H. Robinson.  She worked in a cubicle in an open area with six male co-workers.

During that time, she was subjected to an onslaught of foul and disgusting language at work on a daily basis.  Women were repeatedly referred to as:

• bitch
  

• fucking bitch
  

• fucking whore
  

• crack whore 
  

• cunt

Co-workers also listened to a crude radio show each morning, displayed pornography on a computer, and sang songs about gender-derogatory topics.

Though she complained to her co-workers they persisted in the conduct.  She complained to her branch manager on at least five separate occasions and in two separate work evaluations. She also contacted two C.H. Robinson executives. Nothing changed, and Reeves resigned.

Reeves filed a lawsuit alleging that she had been subjected to a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

What Happened In The Courts

The federal district court granted judgment in favor of C.H. Robinson and threw out the case. Its reasoning was that the offensive conduct was not motivated by sex and not directed at Reeves.

Reeves appealed. A panel of the appellate court reversed the district court's decision holding, among other things, that Reeves presented jury issues as to whether the offensive conduct was based on sex.

That decision was vacated and a rehearing en banc was granted -- meaning that the whole court was going to hear and decide the case.

The Eleventh Circuit Finds For Reeves

The Court started the opinion with some "core principles of employment discrimination law" in hostile work environment cases:

• a plaintiff must show that

1. her employer discriminated because of her membership in a protected group (race, sex, etc.) and that
   
2. the offensive conduct was either severe or pervasive enough to alter the terms or conditions of employment
   

• Title VII is not a civility code, and not all profane or sexual language or conduct will constitute discrimination
  

• workplace conduct can not be viewed in isolation, but but must be viewed cumulatively and in its social context
  

• a plaintiff can prove a hostile work environment by showing severe or pervasive discrimination directed against her protected group, even if she herself is not individually singled out

Applying these principles, the Court held that sufficient evidence had been presented for a jury to find that Reeves was subjected to a  "discriminatorily abusive working environment."

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When Do Discussions About Sexual Harassment At Work Constitute Reporting Which Requires Investigation?

This case addresses an issue in sexual harassment cases that comes up often in real life experience but is not often the central issue of an opinion from a federal court of appeals.

It has to do with reporting of sexual harassment when a victim talks about the harassment with others at work -- but doesn't file a formal complaint. Does the conversation constitute a complaint which requires an investigation?

The case also addresses discussions at work about sexual harassment where the victim says: "don't tell anyone."  What's an employer to do?

The new case --  Duch v. Jakubek  from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit -- addresses these common but thorny issues.

Here’s what happened in the case:

The Harassment

Karen Duch was employed as a court officer by the New York Unified Court System and was assigned to the Midtown Community Court “(MDC) in August of 1999.

In May of 2001, Brian Kohn began working at MCA as a court officer along with Duch. Several months later Kohn and Duch had a consensual sexual encounter at Duch’s apartment. The encounter did not involve sexual intercourse.  

Duch told Kohn the next day that she had made a mistake and did not want to pursue any further relations with him.

After the encounter, and until January 2002, Kohn made a series of sexual advances towards Duch and continued to harass her with unwanted physical contact, sexually graphic language, and physical gestures.

In the months that followed Duch became seriously ill with depression. She stopped eating and began avoiding work. She became suicidal and eventually left the job.

The Reporting

Duch told three people about the harassment:

1. Edward Jakubek : The Highest Ranking Court Officer at MCC

In October of 2001, when Duch learned that she was scheduled  to work alone with Kohn on an upcoming Saturday she approached Jakubeck  and asked for the day off. She didn’t tell him why she wanted the change.

Later that day, Jakubek called Duch in her office and told her that he heard she wanted to change her schedule to avoid working with Kohn. He also told her that he had talked to Kohn and asked him directly why Duch didn’t want to work with him.

 Kohn responded to Jakubek by saying, “well, maybe I did something wrong or said something that I should not have.”

Jaubek told Kohn to “cut it out and grow up.” He then asked Duch if she had a problem with Kohn. According to the testimony, Duch became emotional and after gaining her composure said, “I can’t talk about it.”

Jakubek replied, “that’s  good because I don’t want to know what happened,” and then laughed.

Jakubek offered to change Duch’s schedule so she would not have to work alone at night with  Kohn, and thereafter did not schedule her to work alone with him.

2. Rosemary Christiano: The EEO Liaison

Later in October 2001, Duch told Christiano about Kohn’s harassment. When asked “are you speaking to me as a friend or as an EEO Liaison, Duch responded “I think I am telling you as a friend”.  

When Chritsiano asked Duch whether she wanted her to report Kohn’s behavior, Duch said “absolutely not.” Christiano did not report the harassment to anyone.                                                                                                  

3.  David Joseph: Chrisitano’s Replacement As EEO Liaison

In December of 2001, David Joseph replaced Christiano as the EEO Liaison. Within days, Duch informed him that she wanted to file a formal complaint about Kohn’s conduct. 

An investigation was conducted, and disciplinary charges were brought against Kohn. Duch refused to be cross-examined claiming that she was medically unfit to testify.

All charges were eventually dropped against Kohn. Duch stopped working at the court in 2002 and filed a lawsuit in 2004.

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For all employees who are subjected to a sexually hostile work environment, the recent case of Gallagher v.. C.H. Robinson  from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is fantastic news -- and that's an understatement.

There are so many women who are faced with a regular onslaught of  dirty jokes, pornography, demeaning references about women, and sexual bantering in the workplace.  For those victims, this case is a godsend.

Here's what happened in the case. 

Julie Gallagher worked for C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. in a sales position in the Cleveland office. The area in which she worked had 20 employees and 3 support staff.

The sales staff worked in cubicles that were organized in pods in an open floor plan. Short dividers between the cubicles provided little privacy.

During the four months during which Gallagher worked at C.H.Robinson ("CHR") she described a “locker room” atmosphere characterized by unprofessional behavior and an environment that was hostile to women. 

According to the evidence the work atmosphere was filled with:

• Prevalent use of foul language
  

• References to female customers, drivers, and co-workers as" bitches, whores, sluts, dykes and cunts"
  

• Pornography and nude pictures of girlfriends in various sexual poses
  

• Dirty jokes and graphic discussions of sexual liaisons, fantasies and preferences on a daily basis

In addition, Gallagher was personally:

• Called a bitch in anger on several occasions
  

• Called fat and referred to as a “heifer with “milking udders”

• Told that by hiring her CHR covered it’s “girl quota and fat quota”

Gallagher complained frequently to the branch manager, Greg Quest, but things only got worse. Four months after starting, and following an incident during which some drunk male so-workers “flipped her off”, she finally quit and took a job working for a former employer.

Gallagher filed a case for hostile environment sexual harassment under both state (Ohio R.C. 4112.02)  and federal law (Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964).

What's truly shocking about this case is that the district court judge -- for reasons that I am at a complete loss to genuinely understand -- threw out the case.

Fortunately, the Sixth Circuit wrote a fantastic opinion reversing the district court judge. Here are the highlights and the meat of the decision -- all of which will be very helpful to other victims of this sort of disgusting conduct in the future.

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