Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of a sexual harassment case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this sexual harassment case and its proceedings.)
INJURIES: The plaintiff sought recovery in the form of back pay, damages for emotional distress and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief.
Facts:
Plaintiff alleged that four female employees at ABC Inc., school bus transportation services company, were sexually harassed, retaliated against or forced to quit.
Plaintiff sued ABC under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits gender discrimination in employment, including sexual harassment and retaliation, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement.
Plaintiff alleged a male supervisor at the company’s facility in Los Angeles sexually harassed at least four women, including bus drivers and a human resources assistant. The supervisor began by making constant explicit remarks about the workers’ body parts and the sexual acts he wanted to perform on them. According to the plaintiff, the harassment turned physical when the supervisor exposed himself, grabbed the breasts of a bus driver and rubbed his private parts onto her.
Plaintiff contended that a male manager who received the workers’ complaints of harassment not only failed to correct the situation, but also disciplined one victim and transferred another in retaliation for complaining. The plaintiff claimed the harasser cut another bus driver’s hours upon refusal of his advances and promised extra hours to female employees who might agree.
The plaintiff noted that three of the victims felt forced to resign as a result of the ongoing harassment.
ABC denied the allegations.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
SUMMARY:
RESULT: Settlement
Award Total: $150,000
ABC agreed to settle for $150,000. It also agreed to enter into a consent decree, valid through 2012, which requires it to hire an outside EEO consultant to revamp the company’s policies, complaint procedures, investigations and training of its employees on sex discrimination, harassment and retaliation. ABC must also require supervisors to report such complaints to the human resources department within 24 hours of receipt and create a centralized tracking system for those complaints. ABC must also keep records and report on its compliance with the consent decree and post a notice regarding the decree. The decree covers ABC locations in the California counties of Los Angeles and Orange, and Plaintiff will monitor compliance.
The defense noted that, as set out in the consent decree entered into by the parties, the ABC settlement of the matter was a resolution of a disputed claim and there was no finding that ABC violated any federal employment law. ABC denied that it violated any employment laws and its decision to enter into the settlement is in no way an admission of any type of violation.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.