Sabatini and Associates, LLC Attorneys at Law :: Newington :: Hartford :: Connecticut

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently obtained a court judgment of $1,073,261 against Whirlpool Corporation in a race and  sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of Carlota Freeman, an African American  former employee at the company’s LeVergne, Tenn.-based facility.  According to the lawsuit, Whirlpool  failed to protect  Freeman from persistent harassment by a white male coworker, which ultimately  resulted in her being physically assaulted by him.   The Court agreed.

Following a bench trial, Tennessee District Court Judge  John T. Nixon  awarded Freeman $773,261 in back pay and front pay, and  $300,000 in compensatory damages for non-pecuniary injuries – the maximum  allowed under federal law. During the  four-day trial, the evidence showed that Freeman reported escalating offensive  verbal conduct and gestures by the male coworker over a period of two months  before he physically assaulted her; four levels of Whirlpool’s management were  aware of the escalating harassment; Whirlpool failed to take effective steps to  stop the harassment; and, Freeman suffered devastating permanent mental  injuries that will prevent her from working again as a result of the assault  and Whirlpool’s failure to protect her.

In its defense, Whirlpool claimed that it had posted its anti-discrimination and harassment policies in the workplace and thereby relived itself from liability.  However, the court correctly  pointed out that when those charged with enforcing a policy don’t take that  responsibility seriously, an employer has not met its duty under Title VII to  prevent and stop illegal harassment in its workplace.