Appeals court upholds sexual harassment verdict against automaker
The Associated Press
7/31/02The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed Wednesday a $21 million judgment against DaimlerChrysler AG in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
In 1999, Linda Gilbert won the lawsuit alleging harassment at the Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit. Gilbert was the first woman millwright at the plant, where she has been employed since March 1992.
Gilbert's attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, said with interest, the verdict exceeds $35 million.
Fieger said Gilbert was subjected to numerous acts of harassment, including sabotage of her work, pornographic drawings of her posted on walls and urine dumped on her chair and property.
Gilbert said she repeatedly complained to her supervisors, but the harassment continued for several years.
In a written statement, DaimlerChrysler said it does not tolerate sexual harassment in the workplace and does everything it can to prevent it from occurring.
The company said it investigated each of Gilbert's complaints and put employees on notice that harassment would not be tolerated.
At Gilbert's request, she was transferred to a different work area and a different shift.
DaimlerChrysler said it is reviewing the court's decision and considering another appeal.
Update: DaimlerChrysler lawsuit up for appeal
3/6/01Excerpt from Detroit News article:
Geoffrey Fieger, the attorney who represented Gilbert, who was the first female millwright to work at the Jefferson North factory, said he has several other automotive company harassment suits in the works. In 1999 Fieger and Gilbert won a $21 million jury award.
Gilbert complained five separate times of harassment.
"A culture exists in the auto plants where harassment is tolerated and accepted," Fieger said. "In Linda Gilbert's case, they (urinated) on her chair, passed around pornographic Polaroids and subjected her to constant harassment."
DaimlerChrysler, which says it investigated every complaint Gilbert made, has added former Supreme Court Justice Patricia Boyle to its appellate team. They filed an appeal following the jury award to Fieger and his client.
The final appeal brief is due from Fieger March 22. The appeals court is expected to hear the case by summer.
DaimlerChrysler worker wins $21 million in lawsuit
Female millwright at plant says carmaker ignored complaints of sexual harassment
July 1999
AUBURN HILLS -- A female millwright at DaimlerChrysler AG won a $21-million sexual harassment judgment Monday based on accusations that the carmaker ignored her complaints for seven years.
The decision by a Wayne County Circuit Court jury in Detroit will be the largest in a sexual harassment suit in Michigan if it is upheld on appeal, said Geoffrey Fieger, the plaintiff's attorney.
DaimlerChrysler said it is confident the verdict will be overturned.
"This verdict rewrites the rules for sexual harassment by holding the company responsible for anonymous offenses," said Steven Hantler, assistant general counsel for DaimlerChrysler.
Linda Gilbert, the first female millwright at the Jefferson North Plant, which builds the Jeep Grand Cherokee, said co-workers urinated on her chair and left pornographic cartoons and pictures in her work space.
Gilbert filed five separate complaints with her supervisor. She said her complaints were never investigated, and DaimlerChrysler allowed the harassment to continue even though she identified the perpetrators to union representatives in 1993.
"They knew what was going on, and they tried to ignore it," she said.
Gilbert did not identify offenders in the first four complaints, said Johanna Armstrong, a DaimlerChrysler attorney. The company learned the names of the offenders later, but none of them still works for the company.
A co-worker was identified and reprimanded in the fifth complaint, Armstrong said. In the other four instances, managers conducted group meetings and one-on-one interviews to investigate the complaints and warn workers not to misbehave.
Under Michigan law, interest accrues on an award from the date the suit is filed. Therefore, the total verdict is now worth $45 million, Fieger said.
Gilbert plans to continue to work at the plant, where she was hired in 1992.
"I just want to go back to work and do my job," she said.