RISKVUE ARCHIVE | FEATURE STORIES

Sexual Harassment Alert:
Inaction Leads to Disastrous Results

By Thomas Evan Green, Esq.

Two recent federal court decisions regarding sexual harassment remind employers that unremedied sexual harassment complaints lead to huge liability exposure. Baker v. John Morrell & Co. and Mennis v. Prime Hospitality Corp.

In Baker, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld a jury verdict that awarded over $1.7 million in damages, attorney’s fees and costs to the plaintiff, Rita Baker, a former employee of John Morrell & Co. The damages award was driven well into seven figures for one primary reason: the employer was made aware, on multiple occasions, of the graphic and continuous harassment that the plaintiff suffered at the hands of multiple coworkers, yet the employer never conducted a harassment investigation and never disciplined any of the harassing parties. The harassment consisted of profanity, sexually-charged speech, inappropriate physical contact and other various means of making the plaintiff’s life miserable. Eventually, the plaintiff was hospitalized for an overdose of depression medication and did not return to work. Her lucrative lawsuit followed.

In Mennis, the employer, Prime Hospitality Corp., which operates a hotel, could face similar damage awards in the upcoming months. The federal District Court in Minnesota denied the employer’s motion for summary judgment on claims of, among other things, sexual harassment. In this case, like Baker, the plaintiff, Sheila Mennis, alleges that she was verbally and physically assaulted by male coworkers, endured coworkers’ requests for sex, and had to fend off coworkers who literally tried to undress her on the job. Also similar to the plaintiff in Baker, this plaintiff claims to have made complaints to her employer, but no action was taken in response. Eventually, the plaintiff resigned her position, citing management’s failure to respond to her complaints.

Both of these cases illustrate how an unresolved sexual harassment complaint can spiral out of control and result in huge damages awards for the harassed party. No employer can completely safeguard against sexual harassment, but steps can be taken to both minimize the likelihood of harassment occurring in the workplace, and most importantly from a liability standpoint, to address and remedy harassment complaints when they are made.

To that end, an employer’s anti-harassment program should include all of the following:

• First, anti-harassment training should be given to all employees, preferably on an annual basis. This step lets employees know that inappropriate conduct will not be tolerated by your organization.
  
  
• Second, harassment awareness and complaint-handling training should be administered to all management-level employees on an annual basis. This step develops management awareness of the company’s anti-harassment policies, what conduct is prohibited, and how to deal with harassment complaints. This step is crucial because in the eyes of the law, once the employer “knew or should have known” about the unlawful conduct, it has a duty to make it stop.
  
  
• Third, harassment complaints must be investigated promptly and appropriate remedial action taken as soon as possible. The lack of this third, and most important step, is the direct cause of the huge liability and exposure illustrated in the cases discussed above. Moreover, harassment or other inappropriate conduct must be met with disciplinary action that is sufficiently severe to ensure that the harassment will end, including discharge if necessary.

Every employer is wise to incorporate harassment training as part of their on-going “prevent defense.” Harassment complaints that are properly handled internally during the employment relationship seldom result in ugly and expensive litigation. However, the stage must be properly set both with employees and management to establish an appropriate policy and procedure for handling of workplace harassment issues.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas Evan Green, Esq., is an associate with the Akron, Ohio, law firm of Kastner Westman & Wilkins, LLC (www.kwwlaborlaw.com). Mr. Green is a magna cum laude graduate of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University. Mr. Green is involved in all aspects of the firm’s labor and employment practice, including private and public sector labor matters, workers’ compensation and employment litigation. Mr. Green can be reached at 330-867-9998 or tgreen@kwwlaborlaw.com.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2004 issue of kwwlaborlaw.communicator, a publication of Kastner Westman & Wilkins, LLC.

riskVue | The webzine for risk management professionals
February 2005