Dive Brief:
- A federal judge on March 4 upheld a $300,000 jury award for a SkyWest Airlines parts clerk who allegedly endured a sexually hostile work environment.
- SkyWest had argued there was not sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to award punitive damages or conclude that SkyWest did not make a good-faith effort to comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The court disagreed on both counts, finding that there was such evidence, and although there was an investigation, a reasonable jury could find it lacking.
- The court also denied SkyWest its bid for a new trial based on two alleged prejudicial errors, finding that neither allegation had merit.
Dive Insight:
The court’s decision follows a November jury verdict of $2.17 million in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the clerk. According to the complaint, the worker endured sexual comments, jokes, gestures, comments “making light of rape,” and suggestions she could engage in sex work.
EEOC at the time said the verdict was “the largest jury trial award ever obtained by the EEOC in the Northern District of Texas,” though the award — $2 million in punitive damages and $170,000 for emotional harm — was reduced to $300,000 to comply with Title VII’s statutory cap.
EEOC broadcast the case as a win in a Monday media release.
“The robust injunctive relief gained through this EEOC suit protects current and future employees from experiencing the hostile work environment [the plaintiff] endured,” Alexa Lang, lead trial attorney in the case and a member of EEOC’s Dallas district office, said in a statement. “The EEOC will continue its fight for sexual harassment victims.”
While EEOC shifted some priorities following President Donald Trump’s inauguration — dropping pending gender identity-related lawsuits, denouncing previous agency guidance and targeting specific law firms for DEI practices, among other actions — it has remained focused on sexual harassment and discrimination.
The agency filed a lawsuit last month against a Michigan Taco Bell franchisee, alleging it fostered a sexually hostile work environment, for example, and secured a $1.6 million settlement with an Alabama-based security solutions firm for allegedly designating certain jobs as “male only.”
