Harassment Victim Wins Retaliation Lawsuit 09-06-2006
- By Rita Risser, attorney at law

A woman property manager was sexually harassed and ultimately raped by her manager. She told him she was going to report him to the company, but before she could make her report, he called her supervisor and the Regional Human Resource Director and convinced the two men that he and she had an affair that had gone wrong, and that she was making the complaint because of her poor performance. The three men began documenting her alleged performance problems.

The woman reported the harassment and the retaliation to her manager's Vice President. The VP did not follow up on the complaint except to join the three men in their retaliation. When the woman called him again to complain, he told her he didn't want to get involved and to talk to the HR Director who was part of the retaliation.

The woman decided to put her complaint in writing for HR, and also sent a copy to her Senior Vice President. That SVP immediately told the VP that a complaint was being filed against him. The next day, the VP and HR Director fired the woman.

The woman won at trial and was awarded back pay, emotional distress, attorneys fees and punitive damages. The company appealed, and the Court of Appeals not only upheld the verdict, but also directed that she be awarded additional damages for front pay and additional attorneys fees. (McInnis v. Fairfield Communities, Inc. (10th Circuit, 2006))

What You Should Do: We can imagine a situation where a man convinces his male colleagues that he is the "victim" of an affair gone wrong. This case is a stark reminder that one person's word should never, ever be taken without speaking to the other person involved. If they have different stories, this is an extremely dangerous situation that should not be handled without legal counsel.

And a word to HR/legal: The Court of Appeals excoriated the company for having a policy that prohibited retaliation, but no procedures for reporting retaliation; the company only had procedures for reporting sexual harassment. Make sure your procedures cover harassment (of all kinds), discrimination AND retaliation.

 

Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.