Verdict In Sexual Harassment Case Against FedEx

$2,328,000 — Verdict in Sexual Harassment Case Against FedEx

Winer, McKenna, Burritt & Tillis LLP represented two women who were sexually harassed by a co-worker at the FedEx Sunnyvale, California station.

The first plaintiff, Kolainia Hettick, was a 20-year-old handler when the harassment started. She alleged that the co-employee perpetrator romantically pursued her against her wishes. His conduct escalated to the point where it became stalking-like behavior. Despite numerous complaints to management, FedEx did little or nothing to stop the harassment from occurring. Jana Bryant, a second victim, alleged that the perpetrator blamed Jana for Kolainia’s lack of interest in the perpetrator and began harassing Jana through obscene gestures and threatening language. Jana complained about the harassment, but her complaints were not taken seriously. Plaintiffs alleged that FedEx refused to take the complaints seriously while the two plaintiffs and defendant were forced to work together, and took the position during the litigation and trial that the perpetrator’s conduct did not rise to the level of actionable sexual harassment, the plaintiffs received no injury, and FedEx did nothing wrong in failing to take more corrective action.

Winer, McKenna, Burritt & Tillis LLP partners, John D. Winer and Alexis McKenna, tried the case and overcame FedEx’s defenses to achieve a verdict of $1,298,000 on behalf of Kolainia Hettick and a $1,030,000 verdict on behalf of Jana Bryant. Two million dollars of the total verdict was for punitive damages to punish FedEx for its malicious, oppressive misconduct.

RESULT: Verdict in favor of plaintiffs, $2,328,000.

*Many of the cases that Winer, McKenna, Burritt & Tillis LLP, has settled are highly confidential. In order to provide consumers with an accurate list of settlements, we have accurately stated the amount of the settlement and the facts of the case, but we have changed the location of the cases and the industry of the companies we have sued to make the identification of the actual company impossible.