It Happened To Me: Sexual Harassment

On December 23, 1994, Ms. Janice Killian was fired from her job as office manager for the Internal Medicine Associates of Annapolis (IMA). Her termination was not the result of a fair and unbiased assessment of her work, but of a history of fighting the sexual harassment done by her superiors.

As office manager, Janice dealt directly with the doctors of the office, Doctors Verkouw and Jackson. Her employment went without incident until 1987, when Dr. Charles W. Kinzer joined the practice. From the start of his employment, Dr. Kinzer subjected Ms. Killian to continuous sexual harassment. In mid-1993, Janice had finally put up with as much as she could take. In July of that year, Janice sought the help of Dr. Verkouw. She told Dr. Verkouw of the harassment by Dr. Kinzer toward her and other employees. Dr. Verkouw suggested that Ms. Killian meet with his wife, who had recently been educated on sexual harassment. Ms. Killian met with Mrs. Verkouw and was inspired to write a letter to Dr. Kinzer. In her letter, she explained her point of view and listed the behavior that she found offensive. On August 2, she gave the letter to Dr. Kinzer. Sixteen days later, Dr. Kinzer wrote a reply to Ms. Killian. In his letter, he apologized for any behavior that she may have interpreted as inappropriate; he did not confirm that his behavior was inappropriate, however. After receiving the letter, Ms. Killian did not make any further allegations or complaints against Dr. Kinzer.

A year later, in the summer of 1994, representatives of IMA began discussing a possible merger with Annapolis Internal Medicine (AIM), a similar medical group. The merger would consolidate the doctors' offices into one office. Since this would leave the post-merger group with only one office, the combined offices would only need one office manager. A committee was formed to choose the new staff.

The merger committee chose Charlotte King to manage the newly formed office. Ms. King had been the office manager for AIM. IMA then informed Ms. Killian of the decision at a meeting with the doctors. At that meeting Ms. Killian was told that she could stay as office manager until May of 1995, when the offices would move into the newly shared space. A few weeks after the summer meeting, Ms. Killian asked Dr. Verkouw why she had not been chosen to manage the merged offices. Dr. Verkouw informed her that it had been a complicated decision, but that part of the reason was her history with Dr. Kinzer. Dr. Verkouw added that her performance had slipped as well. As a result of her protests, IMA discharged Ms. Killian from employment on December 23, 1994. The merger was then completed early, on January 1, 1995.

After her termination, Ms. Killian filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) against IMA and several of the doctors individually. In late August of 1995, Ms. Killian received her right to sue letter from the EEOC, in accordance with the federal rules. Ms. Killian filed her complaint in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County on November 24, 1995. In her complaint, Ms. Killian accused IMA of wrongful discharge, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and a violation of Maryland's anti-discrimination law Article 49B.

On July 11, 1997, IMA and the accused doctors filed motions to dismiss two of the three charges and for summary judgment on the remaining charge, which would have a judge declare them innocent of the charge even before holding a jury trial. Their motions were granted on August 1, 1997.

On September 1, 1998, Ms. Killian challenged these decisions in the Court of Special Appeals. The court upheld two of the three decisions. The lower court's decision to grant summary judgment was overturned by the Court of Special Appeals, the higher court. It had taken almost four years for Ms. Killian to get a judgment in her favor, which totaled more than five years from the time that she had been sexually harassed. But her case finally had a chance to go to trial, and Dr. Kinzer would finally have to face what he had done. Sexual harassment cases are long battles, but well worth the fight.