Why did Greg Fischer settle a sexual harassment suit?
April 23, 2001. Eileen M. Belfiore v. Dant Clayton Corporation
-SNIP-
3. From August 12, 1999 through April 25, 2000, the Plaintiff was employed by the Defendant.
4. During the time of employment, the Plaintiff was laid off. The Plaintiff was terminated involuntarily on April 25, 2000.
5. The employment actions referred to above were the result of a sex discrimination against the Plaintiff, who is female, in violation of KRS Chapter 344 and specifically KRS 344.040.
6. During the term of her employment the Plaintiff was harassed by employees of the Defendant, said harassment being a result of the Plaintiff being female. Management of the Defendant was aware of the harassment and did nothing to end it.
7. As a result of the actions of the Defendant, the Plaintiff was damaged financially and suffered mental distress and humiliation.
WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff demands judgment against the Defendant in such amount as it is shown by the proof to be her damages, together with her Court costs, reasonable attorneys fees pursuant to KRS Chapter 344 and all other relief to which she may appear entitled.
On December 16, 2002, an agreement was entered with the court for settlement:
Pursuant to the agreement of the parties to this action, and by counsel, to the dismissal of this matter in its entirety, with prejudice, and the Court being sufficiently advised, hereby approves said dismissal.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this matter be and hereby is dismissed in its entirety and with prejudice. Costs paid.
And before you folks complain that I don’t have all the facts? Here (Warning: PDF Link) is the lawsuit and a timeline of activity.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Metro // Apr 12, 2010 at 3:02 pm
My guess would be he settled because the said employees did what was outlined in the filing, so to save even more legal cost, since the employees of the department were guilty he did the right thing and paid the victim. Sounds reasonable to me anyway.
2 Chip // Apr 12, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Check when Fischer started at D-C.
Be careful pulling stuff that you WANT.
Stay with Fischer’s connections and driving forces if you want to damage him.
3 Eden Springs // Apr 12, 2010 at 4:34 pm
The question here isn’t whether or not he settled a lawsuit (which is often the most expedient fiscal & PR decision to make). The BIG question is what happened to the member of management that did the harassing? Did that person get fired? Sanctioned? Demoted? Or did management just close ranks, wink and go out for beers later to celebrate?
4 Bruce Maples // Apr 12, 2010 at 9:55 pm
As much as we might like it otherwise, Eden Springs is right: settlement of a lawsuit does not necessarily mean guilt, or even likelihood of loss. It’s usually a business decision — “will we spend more defending this than we will settling it?”
ES is also right about the second part: what happened to the offender?
5 Chief // Apr 12, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Well , if anyone who owns a business out there only knows how venerable they are to any kind of complaint of this nature. The best thing is to have a policy that address such behavior, what the requirement is to report such , and an identified procedure of how such a notice will bve handled and investigated. All Employees must know that such behavior won’t be tollerated and dealt with immeadiately and seriously.
Now once everyone knows the rules, it’s still difficult to defend yourself or your company from a contrived accusation, when its he said /she said…..so the plaintiffs & their lawerpernuers have been know to harpoon a lot of defendents knowing a settlement is possible for throwing about some well placed paper!….Just saying !….better hope you never have to be in that kind of spot where some disgruntled employee wants to just Gig! you for an elective payday, cause you will settle also more then likely!…
I do agree that the accused offender should be delt with sternly if warranted. however, if it was a financial fishing expedition for the plantiff, to be venerablly extorted in that manner should have a stiffer counter penalty then just to walk away if the accused is aquitted….the perjury penalty for such a action should be as stiff as they come!….
Just Saying!…..Some sex harrassment claims are the biggest SCAMS going…..!They are expensive to defend and the Plantiffs and their Attys know that!…Believe it or not their are Some people out there who manufacture cases like this all the time, sex harrassment, personal injury, ect…..
Best defense is a good offense of P O L I C Y !!!
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