Articles Posted in Emotional Distress Damages

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Overview: In Adelabu v. Teradyne Inc. Burns and Schwartz, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant and awarded emotional distress damages for race-based discrimination. There was sufficient evidence that the Respondent manager expected a greater degree of deference from black subordinates than from white ones. The hostile environment that resulted from racial bias “adversely affected the Complainant’s working conditions and caused him significant distress.”

The Complainant was entitled to emotional distress damages for disparate treatment and a hostile work environment based on race. There was insufficient evidence, however, to find that the Complainant had been retaliated against when he was moved to a different position with a lower designation, since the change appeared to be a good faith effort to alleviate conflicts arising from a prior project. Similarly, the hearing officer concluded that the Complainant was not constrictively discharged.

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Overview: In Santos v. X-Treme Silkscreen & Design, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant and awarded emotional distress damages for disability discrimination. The MCAD also amended the complaint to add as an individual the sole owner of the Respondent silk screening and embroidery company. Evidence established that the Complainant—who suffered from morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and sleep apnea—was terminated on the first workday after he requested a leave of absence to undergo gastric bypass surgery.

Even though the Complainant had displayed a decline in his work performance, the hearing officer concluded that “his request for medical leave was the but-for cause of his termination.” This conclusion was motivated in part by the temporal proximity of the two events. The hearing officer declined to award back pay, however, finding that the Complainant was not forthcoming about his interim earnings and went more than a year without making a good faith effort to seek new work.

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Overview: In Gutierrez-Dupuis v. Gabriel Care, LLC, the MCAD found in favor of Complainant Dupuis on her retaliation claim, but it found against Complainant Gutierrez on her claims of retaliation and discrimination based on national origin and race. There was no credible evidence to support claims that Gutierrez was told not to speak Spanish to clients or that her supervisor mocked Gutierrez’s accent. The record also made it clear that Gutierrez was terminated for taking steps to open a competing business and not for complaining about discrimination.

As for Complainant Dupuis, however, the hearing officer arrived at the “inescapable conclusion” that the primary reason she was terminated was because she said she would serve as a supporting witness if Gutierrez filed a discrimination claim. The hearing officer reasoned that Dupuis was “fired for standing up in support of her good faith, if misguided, belief that fellow employee Gutierrez was the victim of discrimination.” She was awarded back pay and emotional distress damages.

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Overview: In Patterson v. Ahold USA, Inc., the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant and awarded back pay, front pay, and emotional distress damages for race-based discrimination. The parent company of Stop & Shop terminated the Complainant’s position in the corporate headquarters due to a reorganization and filled other open positions with white employees while passing over the Complainant, who was African-American.

Though the Respondent purported to follow a legitimate process for reorganization, the hearing officer found it quite clear from the evidence that the Respondent exercised significant discretion in selecting employees to be laid off and preserved positions for favored employees. Although there was little evidence in the record showing blatant or conscious race-based bias, that the bias was unconscious did not excuse it. The Complainant received several years of lost wages, front pay up until her 66th birthday, and damages for emotional distress.

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Overview: In Harper v. Z2A Enterprises, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant, awarding emotional distress damages and three months of back pay in a sexual harassment claim against the operator of the Half Time Sports Bar and Grill. The Respondents failed to appear at the hearing, and an Order of Entry of Default was noted on the record.

The Complainant put forth unrebutted evidence establishing that she was sexually harassed and subjected to a hostile work environment by the conduct of her immediate supervisor. The “extremely abusive and degrading behavior” included physical assaults, verbal abuse, sexual taunts, and sexually suggestive comments in the presence of customers and subordinates. The hearing officer found that the Complainant was constructively discharged because she legitimately believed that there was no recourse but to quit.

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Overview: In Tinker v. Securitas Security Services and Hussain, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant and awarded emotional distress damages for discrimination based on sex/gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The Complainant, who previously identified as a woman and a lesbian, notified the Respondent that he was transgender and was transitioning to a man. There was credible testimony that the Complainant’s direct supervisor persisted in making very offensive comments, first about the Complainant’s female gender and sexual orientation and then later about his about his transgender identity.

The hearing officer concluded that Securitas did not take seriously any of the concerns that the Complainant raised with managers. Further, denials about being on notice of the conduct were not credible because the offender was a supervisor, and an employer “is vicariously liable for unlawful harassment committed by as supervisor upon whom it confers authority.” The offending supervisor was also individually liable as the perpetrator of the harassment.

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Overview: In Carta v. Wingate Healthcare, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant, a 69-year-old and qualified handicapped individual who was terminated from her health care position. The MCAD awarded emotional distress damages and ordered the Respondent to conduct training of certain human resources employees after the Complainant was injured during the course of her employment and was subsequently terminated. After her injury, the Complainant returned to work on a part-time basis but was ultimately fired because she could not return to full-time work.

Finding the essential issue to be whether further extending the Complainant’s part-time work schedule was a reasonable accommodation, the hearing officer reasoned that that the Respondent did have a further obligation to the Complainant. The prognosis for the Complainant’s recovery was unclear, and so termination was premature. The evidence ultimately did not support a finding that the Complainant could have worked full time, however, so she was not entitled to lost wages beyond what she had already been compensated by worker’s compensation and a third-party lawsuit recovery relating to her injury.

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Overview: In Savage v. Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant and awarded substantial back pay and emotional distress damages for employment discrimination based on a disability. The Complainant had a history of dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, and chronic depression prior to being hired by the Respondent, a state agency. These disabilities were made apparent to the Respondent through the Complainant’s initial self-identification and several subsequent disclosures to various supervising staff.

The hearing officer found that the agency failed to engage in meaningful communication with the Complainant and failed to fashion meaningful accommodation for his disabilities. The officer further concluded that the Complainant’s training director “seemed more intent on terminating Complainant’s employment as quickly as possible while he was on probation to avoid dealing with the collective bargaining rights that would adhere once he became a non-probationary employee.” The Complainant had also been subjected to a hostile work environment due to demeaning, bully, and intimidating conduct by the training director.

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Overview: In Chase-Eason v. Crescent Yacht Club, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainants, awarding back pay to one of them and emotional distress damages to both. Complainant Eason was subjected to unwanted touching and vulgar comments that were sufficiently severe to alter the conditions of her employment and create a hostile work environment. Even though she did engage in bawdy banter, she “did not waiver in her efforts to protest the behavior directed against her.” The fact that some harassment occurred when Complainant Eason was off duty did not negate the employee/supervisor relationship.

The hearing officer similarly concluded that Complainant Chase was subjected to unwanted touching and hostile language sufficiently severe to constitute harassment. Both Complainants were entitled to emotional distress damages. Complainant Eason, who was terminated, was also entitled to back pay; Complainant Chase, who quit voluntarily, was not.

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