Ohio Appeals Court Affirms OCRC Finding that One Week of Sexual Comments is Enough To Constitute Harassment

• Last year, the Fayette County Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission that a Washington Court House dentist had sexually harassed a chair-side dental assistant for about a week and then constructively discharged her about a month later when he retaliated against her for complaining. Jordan v. Ohio Civ. Rights Comm., 173 Ohio App.3d 87, 2007-Ohio-3830. The court found sufficient evidence in the record to support the OCRC conclusions that one week of comments could create a severe and/or pervasively hostile work environment based on the following testimony:
  
  · The assistant began keeping a diary of the dentist’s comments after he stated to her on her first day that he assured her that her mistakes were minor and then “stated, ‘eventually you'll know what I'm thinking * * * but then you'll probably want to slap me.’”
  · On her second day of work, he followed her around and then “grabbed her from behind and pulled her against him.”
  · He told her that his “wife was going on vacation and suggested that [she] should meet him at a restaurant called The Dock in Chillicothe.
  · He “frequently invited her over to his home to show her his horses and described to her in detail the horses' breeding habits.”
  · He “repeatedly suggested that she ‘needed a sugar daddy’ and that he had several friends that would ‘drop money’ on her if she had sex with them.
  · He “talked to her about taking Viagra and that the ‘prostitutes in Vegas hated when men took Viagra because it wore them out.’”
  · He said that" he couldn't tell anything about [her] body type because he hadn't seen me undressed."
  · He offered “to show her nude photos from the internet and told patients that she used to work in a strip club.”
  · After a patient commented that she was left-handed, he “responded to the patient that "left-handed women make better lovers."
  
  Following this last incident, the assistant testified that she finally confronted appellant for embarrassing her in front of the patient and informed him that she did not appreciate his sexually-oriented comments and asked him to stop making those types of comments. According to the testimony, the dentist stopped being friendly to her, ignored her and criticized her frequently. About six weeks after she was hired, she quit without notice when the dentist objected to her making long-distance telephone calls to her boyfriend from the office telephone.
  
  The OCRC awarded her both front and back pay, but the Court remanded the case to the OCRC to explain the basis for its financial calculations. The Court determined that the dentist’s sexually harassing conduct was sufficiently severe and pervasive even though it only lasted about a week because it affected her work performance and involved one incident of inappropriate touching (i.e., the hug). It also concluded that there was no abuse of discretion in finding that the dentist had constructively discharged the assistance because "[t]he evidence in the record supports the finding that Respondent singled Complainant out for treatment that became unbearable and intolerable and unreasonably altered the terms and conditions of her employment which forced Complainant to resign."
  
  Insomniacs can read the full decision at http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/12/2007/2007-ohio-3830.pdf.
  
  NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with an attorney.