By Kate Acheson
Plaintiff Tracy Joyner, a New York City Corrections Officer, filed suit against the City of New York for discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII after her supervisor made repeated sexual advances towards her. In Joyner v. City of New York, the District Court dismissed all federal claims, finding that, although Ms. Joyner was sexually harassed, the City is not liable because Ms. Joyner waited over a year before reporting the harassment. [Read more…]
By Rick Gautschi
In Duncan v. Dakota County, No. 11-2467, August 3, 2012 (8th Cir. 2012), Toni Duncan worked as a correctional officer for Duncan County, NE, under the supervision of Chief Deputy Sheriff Rodney Herron. After leaving the job, she sued the County and Mr. Herron officials pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1983. She claimed that through the actions of Mr. Herron, the county had, in the forms of sexually harassing and constructively discharging her, denied her equal protection in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, Ms. Duncan alleged that Mr. Herron had created a sexually charged work environment by fostering widespread sexual favoritism in the form of engaging in sexual relationships with subordinates and rewarding his favorites. Ms. Duncan produced no evidence that Mr. Herron had ever threatened or humiliated her. Further, she admitted that she was not promoted to an open position only because she chose not to apply for the position. Mr. Herron argued that the trial court should have determined that the doctrine of qualified immunity precluded Ms. Duncan from proceeding against him. [Read more…]
By Rick Gautschi
In State of Ariz. v. City of Cottonwood, 115 FEP Cases 998, No. CV-11-2-1576-PHX-GMS, July 20, 2012, D. Az., sometime around 2000, as the result of agreements with the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board (AZ POST) and other law enforcement agencies in Arizona, Fitness Intervention Technologies (FIT) conducted a study for the purpose of developing a physical fitness test for law enforcement officers. Subsequently, FIT presented the test to AZPOST, whose director rejected the use of the test out of a concern that if administered, it was likely to have a disparate impact on women. In December 2006, the City of Cottonwood (City) Police Department (CPD) adopted a general order that required incumbent officers and applicants for officer positions to pass the FIT physical fitness test. The policy gave incumbent officers three years to pass the test. The policy was silent as to officers who applied for promotions. Regardless, CPD’s Chief added passing the test to the department’s requirements for promotion. In early 2007, Monica Kuhlt (Ms. Kuhlt) applied for promotion to sergeant. She took the physical fitness test but did not pass all the elements of it. In May 2008, she applied for an open sergeant position, but again she failed the physical fitness test and suffered a back injury in the process of taking the test. She then filed a claim of discrimination with a state agency. In February 2009, the agency dismissed the claim but on April 1, 2009, reinstated it at her request. Subsequently, she supplied a doctor’s note that recommended substituting, for her, an aerobic activity other than the test’s required 1.5 mile run. CPD sent her to another doctor who opined that because of her inability to run, she was not fit to be a police officer. A lawsuit for sex discrimination and retaliation for having opposed sex discrimination followed.
By Rick Gautschi
In Passananti v. Cook County, No. 11-1182, Slip Opinion, July 20, 2012, 7th Cir., Beginning in 2004, over a period of approximately three years, a former director of the Day Reporting Center (DRC) in Cook County, IL, on numerous occasions, referred to the then-deputy director, Kimberly Passananti, as a “bitch.” At times, references came in face-to-face meetings between director and Ms. Passananti. On other occasions, the director made the references in front of other employees and he used the same term to refer to other women employees at the DRC. The claim that the director used the term in a hostile manner was shown, for example, by his repeated statements to Ms. Passananti that she was a “stupid bitch” and when he directed her to “shut the ‘F’ up, you lyin’ bitch.” [Read more…]
By Rick Gautschi
In Jeudy v. Attorney General, Department of Justice, No. 11-15838, Slip. Opinion, July 26, 2012, 11th Cir.,during her probationary period of employment, a pregnant corrections officer informed her employer that as the result of her pregnancy, she experienced severe pelvic pain caused by fibroids on her uterus.
According to the officer, the severe pain limited her ability to walk, stand and climb stairs. She requested an accommodation in the form of being allowed to change her shift and work while seated. [Read more…]
