Racial and sexual harassment creating a hostile work environment has resulted in a $1 million plus judgment against Whirlpool Corporation. Federal district judge John T. Nixon found that a hostile work environment was created based on the following:
Baker frequently directed songs and explicit commentary at Freeman. While isolated
episodes of teasing or sexual comments do not rise to the level of a hostile work environment,
the Court finds that Baker harassed Freeman on an almost daily basis, both during breaks and
while he worked in close proximity to her on the Line. As the months wore on, Baker’s
harassment became more and more threatening, as he began mumbling and pointing at Freeman and eventually assaulted her.
Whirlpool's argument that the conduct was not sex-based and therefore not illegal sex discrimination:
Non-sexually explicit harassing behavior that is “directed at women and
motivated by discriminatory animus against women satisfies the ‘based on sex’ requirement.”Id. Multiple witnesses describe Baker as mumbling and staring at Freeman and her co-worker Chinica Lillard, also African-American, preceding the assault. After punching Freeman, Baker verbally threatened Lillard as well and threw a pipe at her. The Court finds that the assault was the final harassing act in a campaign of harassment that Baker targeted at Freeman because of her sex. Any reasonable person would find Freeman’s working environment to be hostile and abusive.
The Court entered a judgment in excess of $1 million in Freeman's favor. You can read a copy of the Court's opinion, Freeman v. Whirlpool Corporation.
