When harassment complaints go to trial: Lessons from a recent federal court ruling

A recent decision from the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals serves as a powerful reminder to employers: How you respond to harassment complaints can have long-lasting consequences, even if a jury initially rules in your favor.

What happened?

Two female restaurant servers sued their former employer, Remington of Montrose Golf Club, claiming they were sexually harassed by an assistant manager. They also said they were retaliated against after speaking up.

Initially, the company did take some action. It suspended and demoted the manager after the complaints. However, once the manager was allowed to return to work, he continued to harass the two servers by cutting one’s hours until she quit and shoving the other and refusing to help her during shifts that he shared with her.

Only one of the waitresses’ cases made it to trial. There, the jury did something odd—it said the employer did not harass or retaliate against her but then awarded her $125,000 in damages anyway.

That contradiction was a legal problem. Under the law, damages can only be awarded if the jury finds the employer did something wrong. So, the judge threw out the damages, and the case seemed to be over.

But on appeal, the 10th Circuit stepped in and said, essentially, this doesn’t make sense, and it awarded her a new trial.

Why it matters