KANSAS CITY, MO – Following a four day trial in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, a jury earlier this week awarded a Garden City woman with $100,000 in punitive damages and $1,000 in compensatory damages in a sexual harassment lawsuit that stemmed, in part, from an incident in which pornographic pictures were inserted in between the pages of a Bible that the woman brought with her to work.Cindy Johnston, who was represented by attorneys for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as well as private attorney Brad Kavanaugh, sued Garden City Plastics Equipment and Supply Co. Inc. and Plastic Packaging Concepts Inc. (PPC), two related companies, alleging that her superiors at PPC had engaged in acts of sexual harassment and that her complaints regarding the harassment fell on deaf ears within the company.
According to media reports, the lawsuit asserted that the alleged harassment began in June 2002 and continued through the termination of Johnson’s employment with the company in January of 2003.
Mike Ketchmark, a partner in Kavanaugh’s law firm, told the Kansas City Star that the jury agreed with Johnston’s contention that her supervisors at PPC had engaged in sexually harassment and that her complaints had not been handled properly.
Charles Weedman, an attorney for PPC, said only that the facts of the case were “highly disputed,” beyond which the companies would have no comment at this time, according to the Star.
Representatives from the EEOC said the agency intended to file a motion for injunctive relief that would require both companies to adopt sexual harassment policies and training.
“These companies ignored the victim’s complaints and failed to punish the harassers,” said Robert Johnson, regional attorney for the EEOC, told the Star.
Although the case involved a relatively small amount of money for such a claim, Johnson said the case was noteworthy because it is somewhat rare for civil cases like this to reach the jury trial phase in federal court.
