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In an article published 11/5 in Law360, Segal McCambridge Shareholders Michael R. Luchsinger and Benjamin J. Nellans discuss the case Stovall v. Raytheon Co., where a Raytheon employee was terminated for allegedly tapping a co-worker’s buttocks with a lunch tray. The victim claimed Stovall engaged in repeated incidents of sexual harassment, which Stovall denied. In turn, the plaintiff, then 55 years old, claimed he was actually terminated due to his age, which was illegal under anti-discrimination statutes.
“Raytheon moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that Stovall admitted to engaging in inappropriate conduct,” write Luchsinger and Nellans. “Raytheon asserted that this admission rendered Stovall behaviorally unqualified for his position, preventing him from establishing a prima facie case of age discrimination.”
The case demonstrates the bind employers often find themselves, the attorneys say. Had Raytheon neglected to fire Stovall after determining he had violated the company’s harassment policies; Raytheon would have potentially faced additional liability claims. However, by terminating him, they placed themselves at the mercy of an age discrimination suit.
“Despite Stovall’s admission that he engaged in conduct that Raytheon believed violated its sexual harassment policy, Raytheon was unable to dispose of the case at the pleading stage,” they write. “When an employer terminates an employee that it genuinely believes engaged in sexual harassment, it will always have a strong argument that it terminated the employee for a legitimate and non-pretextual reason.”
Read the story in full; click here (subscription-based).
