10/05/2012 - Myclipp

Business Insurance/ - Article, Dom, 13 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
Hostile environment claim by gay
employee upheld by court
HARTFORD, Conn.—In its first ruling on the issue, the
Connecticut Supreme Court has upheld a hostile work
environment claim brought by a gay employee.
In a unanimous ruling earlier this month in Luis Patino
vs. Birken Manufacturing Co., the court upheld a jury"s
award of $94,500 in punitive damages against the
Bloomfield, Conn., firm.
Mr. Patino, who had worked at Birken as a machinist
from 1977 until his November 2004 termination, said
he was subjected to years of slurs for homosexuals in
Spanish, Italian and English.
According to the ruling, the company"s responses to
Mr. Patino"s complaints included a letter from Gary
Greenberg—then the company"s vp and general
counsel and now its president—in which he
recommended Mr. Patino be evaluated by a
psychologist “because the plaintiff"s job required him
to work with precision instruments and he thus posed a
safety risk to others when his mental facilities were
compromised.”
The issues raised by the company in its appeal were
that state law does not provide for hostile work
environment claims; even if such claims could be
brought under state law, the plaintiff presented
insufficient evidence to support the jury"s finding of a
hostile work environment; and the award was
unsupported by the evidence and was excessive.
In rejecting all of Birken"s arguments, the court said
that state law makes it illegal to discriminate against
individuals “in terms, conditions or privileges of
employment” because of the individual"s sexual
orientation.
The legislature"s use of that phrase “evidences its
intent to permit hostile work environment claims where
employees are subject to sexual orientation
discrimination,” the court ruled.
Commenting on the ruling, Mr. Patino"s attorney, Jon
L. Schoenhorn, of Jon L. Schoenhorn & Associates
L.L.C. in Hartford, Conn., said it “is a sweeping
decision supporting workers” that “puts employers on
notice—not just in sexual orientation cases, but in any
case where there"s a hostile work environment on any
identifiable class.”
Mr. Schoenhorn said, “This is the first appellate-level
case in the country that extends hostile work
environment (claims) to the area of sexual
orientation.”
Defense attorney Daniel L. Schwartz, a member of law
firm Pullman & Comley L.L.C. who was not involved in
the case, said he is not sure whether there have been
any other state Supreme Court rulings on this issue,
but it is “certainly one of the first of its kind in the
nation.”
Mr. Schwartz said Connecticut “has had its
anti-discrimination laws regarding sexual orientation
on the books for some time, so it"s sort of a natural
evolution for these types of court decisions to see a
court have to address that, given how developed the
law is starting to become in that area.”
Mr. Schwartz said Patino “certainly broadens the
state"s sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws to
include hostile work environment claims, and in
essence” calls for them to “be treated as
gender-hostile work environment claims as well.”
The ruling “gives some teeth to the advice that many
employers are prone to follow anyway, which is barring
harassment in the workplace isn"t just about gender
any more. It covers all types of discrimination,”
including sexual orientation discrimination, he said.
Birken"s president said the company is disappointed
by the ruling.
“Birken Manufacturing Co. prides itself on its ethics,
integrity and reputation,” according to a statement from
Mr. Greenberg. “Our company"s history and longevity
in this community is a testament to our business
practices and corporate record. We value our
workforce and will continue to diligently work to protect
our employees against discrimination.”
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