Opus Group LLC

The improper use of cell phones by Mayor Kwame Kilpartick and his Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty, issued by their employer, the City of Detroit, led to the downfall of both after a series of legal proceedings. Kilpatrick agreed to resign as Mayor of Detroit effective September 18, 2008, as part of a plea agreement on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and official misconduct, filed after hundreds of sexually explicit text messages, printed in local papers, proved that he had committed perjury when he testified in a civil trial that he had not had an affair with Beatty.

In a whistleblower suit Kilpatrick was (more…)

Under certain circumstances employers can avoid vicarious liability or even certain damages for a supervisor’s sexual harassment of a subordinate worker. This happens when (1) the employer had a meaningful anti-harassment policy, (2) it exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any sexually harassing behavior, and (3) the victim (more…)

Prompt investigation of sexual harassment complaint avoids $1 million punitive damages.

Sexual harassment in the workplace is the source of significant liability for employers. An employer may be found liable for discrimination if it is notified of sexual harassment in the workplace and fails to take adequate remedial action. However, a firm company policy against harassment coupled with a prompt, thorough and unbiased investigation process brings important benefits for the employer.

In a recent appellate decision in Massachusetts¹, (more…)

Employers are regularly sued by disaffected employees claiming to be the target of racial discrimination or sexual harassment by supervisors or coworkers. The allegations usually allege that the employer failed to

• institute a clear and comprehensive anti-harassment policy
• disseminate the anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy to employees
• establish a complaint procedure
• conduct a prompt, thorough and unbiased investigation
• provide remedial action and protection for the victim
• impose meaningful and appropriate discipline on the violator

In the recently decided case (D.M. v. Walgreen Pharmacy, Inc.) the court examined these allegations and affirmed the (more…)