Plaintiff was the only female in a construction crew with numerous males. At the beginning of her employment, the supervisors and coworkers made it clear that any female was unwelcome at the site and undertook many acts to make her job extraordinarily difficult and to create a hostile environment. The supervisors and coworkers made Plaintiff perform tasks that they should have been performing themselves and that no male had to perform.
The defense treated the case like a sexual harassment claim, alleging that Plaintiff consistently made sexually inappropriate statements and indicated that she welcomed sexual comments.
Winer, Burritt & Scott, LLP, made the case that this was not a sexual harassment claim but rather a gender harassment/discrimination claim, thus, any sexual comments made by Plaintiff should not be considered participation on Plaintiff’s behalf. Winer, Burritt & Scott, LLP, refocused the claim to point out that the discriminatory conduct of defendants is the very essence of conduct that created inequality in the workplace and made it prohibitive for females to work in traditionally male positions.
RESULT: $610,000 settlement on behalf of Plaintiff