Articles Posted in Workplace Retaliation

Overview: In Osorio v. Standhard Physical Therapy, Bulega, Tambi, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant and awarded back pay plus emotional distress damages on her claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. There was credible evidence that Respondent Bulega, the business manager at the physical therapy office, began harassing the Complainant by smacking her behind several times a week, putting his hand down her shirt, snapping her underwear, making vulgar statements, and sending suggestive text messages. In addition, the Complainant once found Respondents Tambi and Bulega watching pornographic videos in the front area of the office.

The hearing officer found the Complainant’s testimony to be “extremely believable,” noting that she was clear and consistent throughout the proceedings. The evidence showed that the Complainant had been subjected to humiliating, unwelcome sexual harassment for a protracted period. Additionally, there was “no doubt” that the Respondents were on notice of the Complainant’s protected activity of complaining about sexual harassment but terminated her anyway, with a clear causal connection between those events. The hearing officer also found Respondents Bulega and Tambi individually liable.

Overview: In Robar v. Int’l Longshoremen’s Association, Local 1413-1465, Fortes, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant and awarded emotional distress damages for her claims of gender-based discrimination and retaliation. The Complainant, a woman with experience and certification in forklift operation, alleged that the Respondents refused to hire her as a forklift operator due to her gender and non-member status with the union.

The hearing officer found direct evidence of gender discrimination underscoring the fact that the union never hired women to operate the forklifts. The Respondents failed to refute this evidence, providing ostensibly false reasons for their actions. There was also evidence that the Respondents denied union membership to the Complainant because she had not worked enough hours but admitted several men who did not meet that requirement. The Complainant failed to put forth a prima facie case for retaliation, however, because the events in question lacked temporal proximity and the alleged harm was hypothetical. In addition to emotional distress damages, the hearing officer imposed a civil penalty against the Respondent union.

Overview: In Babu v. Aspen Dental Management, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant, awarding back pay and emotional distress damages for claims of employment discrimination and retaliation. The Complainant, a Romanian immigrant and trained dental assistant, alleged that she was subjected to harassment because of her accent and was retaliated against for objecting to the officer manager’s sexualized behavior towards male patients. The Complainant had consistently received very positive employment reviews in her eight years at Aspen Dental practices prior to the incident in question but was ultimately terminated fourteen months after filing her MCAD complaint.

The hearing officer credited the Complainant’s testimony that she confronted her supervisor about flirting with a patient in the office over the supervisor’s denial. Under a disparate treatment analysis, the hearing officer found direct and indirect evidence of national origin discrimination. The justifications put forth by the Respondent for the discipline against the Complainant and for her eventual termination were found to be illegitimate after close scrutinization. There was a causal connection between the protected activity of complaining about the supervisor’s demeanor and the subsequent adverse employment actions, which had included a demotion in pay and title.

Overview: In Cromartie v. West River Pharmacy & Blitchington, the MCAD found in favor of the Respondent pharmacy and one of its supervisors, dismissing the complaint. The Complainant, a black woman working as a medical records technician, alleged that she had been discriminated against because of her race and color and retaliated against for filing an internal complaint. Specifically, the Complainant alleged she was subjected to disparate treatment that included the assignment of more work than coworkers and disparaging treatment by supervisors.

The hearing officer concluded that the Complainant failed to establish a prima facie case because she did not show that she was adequately performing her job. There was considerable evidence establishing that the Complainant made frequent errors that could have placed patients in danger. Furthermore, the Complainant did not establish that similarly situated coworkers not in her protected class were treated differently. There was credible evidence that white, Asian, and Latino employees had been disciplined and/or terminated for similar mistakes.

Overview: In Phillips v. Electro-Term-Hollingsworth, the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant and awarded back pay plus emotional distress damages for a sexual harassment claim against the Respondent electronic wiring manufacturer. The Complainant, who worked briefly at the Respondent company as a wire harness assembler, had asked coworkers to stop speaking graphically about sex acts in her presence. In response, those coworkers engaged in increasingly threatening behavior to which the Complainant’s superiors provided a limited and unhelpful reaction.

Even though the hearing officer found that the Complainant embellished some of her factual testimony, the officer determined that coworkers did indeed conduct repeated vulgar discussions of sexual acts within earshot of the Complainant and threatened her after she reported that conduct. The employer had a duty to inquire into the specific allegations and failed to conduct a thorough investigation. The hearing officer further concluded that the Complainant’s protected activity of reporting the harassment was the primary reason she had been threatened by termination, and the work environment was sufficiently hostile to support a constructive discharge claim.

Overview: In Canton v. Biga Wholesale, Martin, etc., the MCAD found in favor of the Complainant, awarding back pay and emotional distress damages for claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. The Complainant, who worked in bread production for Biga’s multiple bakery entities, credibly testified that her direct supervisor began making advances toward her. The Complainant rebuffed these advances, at which point they intensified to include unwanted grabbing/kissing and an offer by the supervisor to credit the Complainant for working a shift if she went home with him. The Complainant’s supervisor subsequently reduced her hours after she continued to reject his advances. After hiring an attorney and notifying company leadership of these incidents, the Complainant was eventually laid off.

The hearing officer concluded that the Complainant was the target of a “relentless campaign” of unwanted sexual propositions and that she suffered adverse changes in the terms of her employment as a result of rejecting those advances. Furthermore, the Complainant was subjected to a hostile work environment because her supervisor’s conduct so clearly crossed the boundaries of a professional relationship. The hearing officer also found that the Complainant was laid off in retaliation to objecting to such conduct and that the actions of the company’s personnel officer in response were so egregious as to make her individually liable.

Overview: In Rodriguez v. UPS, the MCAD found in favor of the Respondent and dismissed the complaint alleging discrimination based on race and national origin as well as retaliation. The Complainant, a driver and dock worker, claimed that he was subjected to harassing behavior by coworkers, including name-calling and criticism. Although the claims would have been enough to establish a prima facie case if proven, the hearing officer determined that the Complainant was not a credible witness and therefore did not establish a claim.

The hearing officer noted that the Complainant had charged a coworker at a prior company with similar discrimination and lied under oath when he said that he did not file a similar lawsuit against that employer. Furthermore, witnesses contradicted much of the Complainant’s factual testimony. The Complainant’s “unconvincing demeanor,” his “evasions about past matters,” and “the plethora of credible witnesses testifying against him” sufficiently undermined his claims.

Overview: In Bloomfield v. MA Department of Correction, the MCAD found in favor of the Respondent and dismissed the complaint from a DOC Sergeant alleging a racially-motivated hostile work environment, retaliation, and discrimination based on disability from diabetes. Many of the Complainant’s allegations fell outside the applicable statute of limitations, including some charges dating back to 1990. Those charges that were not untimely were neither credible nor sufficient to support the claims.

The hearing officer reasoned that the one-year gap between the protected activity of filing an MCAD charge and the Complainant’s subsequent termination was too long in this case to support an inference of causation. Additionally, there was credible evidence showing that the penalties imposed on the Complainant “were valid, job-related responses to misconduct, not punishments for complaining about discrimination.” The Complainant was disciplined for making false claims of misconduct against other employees and for lying about sleeping while on duty, not for making allegations of discrimination.

Overview: In Aime v. MA Department of Correction, the MCAD found for the Respondent and dismissed a Correction Officer’s allegations of retaliation. The Complainant—who had previously filed a discrimination complaint that was ultimately dismissed—was an African American male with over 20 years in his role at the DOC. Although the Complainant did engage in protected activity by filing an MCAD complaint, there was credible evidence that the subsequent actions of which he complained were not taken in retaliation.

The hearing officer found, for example, that the Complainant’s earlier suspension for insubordination “was justified and was a legitimate, non-retaliatory” action related to his conduct of the same morning. Similarly, the Complainant’s transfer did not constitute an adverse employment action because it did not materially disadvantage him.

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.