After working for American Sugar Holding, Inc. for twenty years, Rosanna Mayo-Coleman was allegedly sexually harassed by her new manager. It began with comments about her looks and escalated to “I would tap that a** if you wasn’t so old,” and “I would tell you to go F yourself but you might go do it.”
Mayo-Coleman endured these and other lewd comments for several years. Because she had rebuffed his advances and comments, Mayo-Coleman was given more work, denied overtime, and was not paid in a timely manner. She reached her breaking point when her manager allegedly smacked her behind.
She told her manager she was going to report him, and he told her to go ahead, saying “they ain’t gonna do anything, they won’t even believe you. If you continue to report me, you know what is going to happen?”
Unfortunately, the manager was correct. American Sugar Holding did absolutely nothing, and that’s when Mayo-Coleman brought both federal and state claims for harassment and discrimination. After hearing the evidence, the jury awarded Mayo-Coleman $1.7 million in compensatory damages and $11.7 million in punitive damages.
Because of statutory caps on Title VII cases, the jury’s award will likely be reduced to $300,000. She would still be allowed to keep the $1.7 million in compensatory damages, and could recoup any damages for violations of New York state law.
When it comes to this case, three questions come to mind …
Should Federal or State law cap awards in sexual harassment cases? How would you feel if your 59-year old mother, sister, or family member were treated this way?Or, should awards be unlimited in order to get the attention of major companies in the hope they will do more to stop sexual harassment?Finally, this case received almost zero coverage by the media. If the media is only interested in sexual harassment claims brought by Hollywood stars, is there any real deterrent to large companies if there’s no press?
Feel free to let us know your opinion about this case. The Harris Firm welcomes your feedback. Our only request is that you keep it clean!
