FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Top Story by
Human Resource Executive® Magazine

Company Wins 'Dirty-Hour' Lawsuit

December 2004 -- Human Resource Executive® Magazine

The case involved Otha Wheeler, who worked on an assembly line at Aventis Pharmaceuticals' Kansas City, Mo., manufacturing plant for 13 years. Wheeler came to the attention of the company's human resource department when a fellow employee (perhaps in retaliation for negative comments Wheeler made about her during a "peer review" session) reported Wheeler for fondling or attempting to fondle male co-workers on several occasions, according to court documents.

The company investigated, interviewing about 10 employees. What came to light stunned the company's managers: They learned that assembly-line employees had designated a certain portion of the day "dirty hour," during which they frequently engaged in puerile and lewd behavior, including discussing each others' sex lives, placing "kick me" signs on co-workers' backs, squirting alcohol or other liquids at each other and placing rubber snakes or spiders on the assembly line, according to court documents. 

According to the witnesses, Wheeler participated during the "dirty hour," and several male employees confirmed Wheeler had fondled them while they were working. Some said they tried to avoid her, because they did not wish to be grabbed or fondled, according to court documents. Wheeler denied the specific allegations, but admitted to taking part in what she termed "horseplay."

Based on its investigation, Aventis placed Wheeler on paid leave and eventually terminated her, according to Aventis, because she had violated the company's published sexual harassment policy, court documents state. None of the other assembly-line employees were fired.

Wheeler sued, claiming she was fired because she is an African-American woman. The district court dismissed her case in a summary judgment, and she appealed.

Judge Lavenski R. Smith, writing for a three-judge panel on the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, said the case came down to whether Wheeler could present enough evidence to prove the company's contention - that it fired Wheeler because she violated its harassment policy - was merely a pretext for discrimination.

Wheeler pointed to the fact that, a few months after she was terminated, a white female employee was reprimanded but not fired for intentionally flashing her breasts when asked to do so. She presented this as evidence of differential treatment. 

Smith upheld the summary judgment, and dismissed Wheeler's reasoning, writing: "Sexually-offensive conduct that involves physical contact is not the same as offensive comments, gestures or lewd displays. Aventis was not obligated to treat the two behaviors as substantially similar because they involved objectively different conduct."

Smith also noted that in a subsequent, much more similar, incident - in which a white male employee was reported for smearing grease on the buttocks of a female employee - the employee was terminated.

Contact Information

Business Leaders National, Inc.

Ken Bu Kai, Incorporated

Ken Bu Kan

Elizabethtown, KY 42701

 

Telephone

Theresa Leavitt - CompanyPhone

           Mark Keith - 816-537-6153

Postal address

CompanyAddress

Electronic mail

General Information: CompanyEmail
Sales: mrsrock@kenbukan.org
Customer Support: kenbukan@kenbukan.org
Webmaster: CompanyWebmaster