CHICAGO – The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago must pay a former employee $700,000 for firing her after she complained about another employee’s on-the-clock porn-watching habits.
U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer awarded Lynn Sanchez $200,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages after a jury found the archdiocese unjustly retaliated against Sanchez.
The case dates to 2014, when Sanchez worked as a parish assistant. According to court transcripts, she observed a tech-support employee watching pornography on an office computer. She said not only did the diocese make it more difficult for her to obtain tech support after she complained, but the incident was recorded incorrectly: The diocese files noted the technician was looking at women in swimsuits.
The diocese plans to appeal the award.
