Sexual Harassment Award Of $965,999 Stands Where Employer Failed To Train Supervisors To Prevent Discrimination

A female who worked in the Human Resources Department of a Puerto Rican company claimed a supervisor in her department sexually harassed her by engaging in inappropriate conduct on a daily basis, including touching her shoulders and hips and asking her out on dates. In one particular incident, the supervisor pulled the woman toward him and tried to kiss her. She rejected his advance, and thereafter he displayed a negative attitude toward her and gave her excessive work. When she complained to an upper level manager about the excessive workload, he threatened to fire her if she filed a complaint.

The woman eventually resigned and brought a lawsuit (Monteagudo v. Asociacion de Empleados del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico) against the company, alleging sexual harassment under both federal law (Title VII) and Puerto Rican law. At trial, the woman testified that she felt she was treated like a piece of meat, and she wept every evening. After her constructive discharge, she suffered from depression and an inability to sleep.

The jury found in favor of the woman and awarded total damages of $965,999, $300,000 of which represented punitive damages under Title VII. On appeal, the company challenged the punitive damages award, contending it engaged in good-faith efforts to comply with Title VII by implementing a non-harassment policy.

The appeals court rejected the company's position, finding that implementation of a policy alone was insufficient to avoid punitive damages. The court refused to adjust the punitive damages award because the employer did not employ an "active mechanism for renewing employees' awareness of [its anti-harassment] policy." For example, said the court, the employer did not produce any testimony that "supervisors were trained to prevent discrimination from occurring."

The Monteagudo case highlights the need to consistently renew employees' awareness of their employer's anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies. Employers should provide training to employees on how to prevent harassment and discrimination from occurring. Such training should be provided at the inception of employment and renewed periodically thereafter.

ELI®'s flagship harassment and discrimination training program, Civil Treatment® for Managers, communicates company policy to participants and teaches them about relevant workplace issues and appropriate workplace behaviors. To learn more about ELI's catalogue of programs, visit www.eliinc.com.

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