District court dismisses ex-employee's untimely sexual harassment claims

A federal district court in Maryland recently dismissed a case involving egregious sexual harassment because the former employee's claims were untimely and she couldn't support her allegations with specific factual evidence that might have resurrected the untimely claims.

Background facts

From May 2000 until January 28, 2018, Barbara Fisher worked as a packing manager for J.O. Spice and Cure Co., Inc. On unspecified dates during that period, Donald Ports, one of the owners, and Steve Lewis, a supervisor, repeatedly made sexual comments at the workplace. Ports also made obscene gestures, including "licking his lips" and making sexual jokes when workers put gloves on. On more than one occasion, he stated that “he knew what it was like to have sex with a fat person,” discussed his wife's breasts, and generally spoke about women's bodies in a sexual and demeaning way.

Beginning in 2005, Ports demanded that Fisher have sex with him. Fisher was a single mother who needed her job at J.O. Spice and felt she had no choice but to acquiesce to his demands. From 2005 until approximately 2012, they had sex about twice a month. Fisher testified that their sexual encounters occurred at the Beltway Motel and during business trips. She said she asked colleagues not to leave her alone with Ports, but she didn't tell them about the sexual intercourse because she feared she would lose her job.