June 4, 2020
Jury Awards $1.7 Million to Spanking Victim
A Fresno jury awarded $1.7 million to an employee at a home security company, Alarm One, Inc., who asserted sexual harassment and battery claims after team-building exercises which involved spanking. Alarm One encouraged sales teams to compete with each other, and subjected the losers to pies being thrown, wearing baby diapers, and being made to eat baby food. If salespeople arrived late to meetings, or did not meet their sales quota, they were spanked with a yard sign in front of a roomful of people who heckled, “Bend over, baby,” and “You’ve been a bad girl.” [Janet Orlando v. Alarm One, Inc. (Super. Ct. Fresno County, 2008, Nos. F050759 & F051470).]
The plaintiff was spanked on three occasions, and subsequently quit her job because she was embarrassed and humiliated. She sued for sexual harassment and battery, asserting the company knew about the spankings and did not properly investigate or stop the misconduct . The company only ended the spanking practice after another female employee was injured by a spanking.
Alarm One argued the spankings were part of a voluntary team-building program and were intended to be fun. The jury, however, disagreed and awarded the plaintiff $1.7 million for punitive and related claim damages.
Workplace Harassment Claims
Motivational programs and team-building exercises can be an effective way to increase employee productivity and morale. They can also be a fun way to foster communication and help employees focus on working together.
However, proper supervision over such activities is essential because of the potential for harassment issues and resulting lawsuits. Harassment is defined by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as any “unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.” Much like in the above-mentioned case, harassment becomes unlawful when “1) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.” [https://www.eeoc.gov/harassment (as of June 4, 2020.] Unlawful harassment can lead to an award for the victim’s legal fees, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages.
Workplace harassment can include making off-color jokes, comments (about physical attractiveness, sexual proclivities, etc.), or gestures; sending inappropriate emails or texts; displaying inappropriate objects, pictures, or posters in the workplace; non-work-related body contact (besides handshakes or similar greetings); or propositioning employees for sex.
In 2019, the EEOC received over 70,000 charges of workplace discrimination, and an additional 7,500 charges of sexual harassment.
Senate Bill 1343, effective January 1, 2020, amended California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) regulations, and required businesses that employ five (5) or more employees to provide at least two (2) hours of sexual harassment training to all supervisory employees, and at least one (1) hour of sexual harassment training to all non-supervisory employees within six (6) months after employment. Thereafter, the employer must provide sexual harassment training once every two (2) years.
Senate Bill 778, approved by Governor Newsom in August 2019, extended the deadline for sexual harassment training to January 1, 2021 . Under this bill, new non-supervisory employees must receive training within six (6) months of hire, and new supervisory employees must receive training within six (6) months of assumption of the supervisory position. If an employer provided the requisite training in 2019, the employer would not be required to provide training again until two (2) years thereafter.
Lessons for Employers
Employers should adopt policies that comply with federal, state, and local laws regarding harassment in the workplace. Policies should clearly define workplace harassment. Conduct which humiliates or embarrasses an employee is not appropriate, and should not be tolerated. Employers should have proper supervision, even in satellite offices. Frequent visits by human resources personnel or corporate officials to monitor office behavior are advisable.
Employers must take employee complaints seriously, and should immediately address harassment complaints, regardless of how trivial they may seem . Employers must maintain employees’ confidentiality – harassment claims should be handled discreetly. Employers must not discourage or threaten employees who indicate they will seek the assistance of a federal or state agency or commission regarding a harassment claim.
The FEHA provides for detailed procedures and remedies to deter and redress unlawful employment practices, such as harassment. Be aware that you have only three years from the time the harassment occurred to file a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. [Gov. Code § 12960(e).]
Need more information?
ESKRIDGE LAW may be contacted by phone (310/303-3951), by fax (310/303-3952) or by email (geskridge@eskridgelaw.net). Please visit our website at eskridge.hv-dev.com.
This article is based on the law as of the date posted at the top of the article. This article does not constitute the provision of legal advice, and does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship with Eskridge Law.