Real Story of Sexual Harassment

Phyllis Delaney, Karen Watts, Brenda Lackey, and Marlene Schiedt worked as waitresses at a restaurant owned by Skyline Lodge, Inc. In 1990 the manager, Peter Boucher, began acting inappropriately. He told offensive jokes and made sexual remarks to these four women in the public and work areas of the restaurant. He also referred to the waitresses by derogatory names, made unwelcome comments about Phyllis's breasts, and made comments to Marlene about her performance in bed. The women asked Peter to stop, but he refused.

In November 1990 the women complained to the operations manager of Skyline about the sexually harassing conduct. In response, the manager told Peter to stop telling offensive jokes to those who might not appreciate them. Five days after reporting the conduct, the operations manager told the waitresses that their allegations about Peter were false, to drop the issue if they wanted to keep their jobs, and fired Phyllis.

Peter stopped telling inappropriate jokes directly to the waitresses, but continued to tell them in their presence. One time, he lowered his pants while staring directly at Marlene. Also, he threatened two of the women by telling them that he kept a gun in his car and that he would not hesitate to use it if anybody got in his way.

The women complained about Peter again, this time to the controller of Skyline. They were all fired by the middle of December, 1990. They sued Skyline for sexual harassment and won. The jury awarded damages in the following amounts: $33,000 to Phyllis, $20,000 to Karen, $16,000 to Brenda and $16,000 to Marlene. On appeal, the verdict and awards were sustained.

Delaney v. Skyline Lodge, Inc. (1994), 95 Ohio App.3d 264, 642 N.E.2d 395.