Court shoots down #MeToo evidence

Tracy White's $790,000 jury verdict on her hostile-work-environment claim was reversed because evidence of harassment of other employees (#MeToo evidence) cannot be used to prove that her work environment was impermissibly hostile. White v. State of Iowa (Iowa 04/12/2024) [PDF]

The opinion in this case describes a long series of unpleasant events that took place over a period of years. I won't repeat them here.

White’s own job duties as a supervisor included receiving reports of alleged discrimination experienced by other employees, and she relied, in part, on such reports to support her own hostile-work-environment claim.

The jury found that White proved a hostile work environment and awarded her $260,000 for past emotional distress and $530,000 for future emotional distress. The State moved for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or a new trial, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to prove White’s own hostile-work-environment claim.

The Iowa Supreme Court remanded the case for entry of an order granting the State’s motion for JNOV.

The parties agreed that me-too evidence of which White was unaware cannot prove that she personally experienced a hostile work environment. The discrimination experienced by others and reported to her was insufficient to prove her own hostile-work-environment claim.

So White was left with a few offensive events that were relevant. But the court held that these were not sufficiently severe or pervasive to support a hostile-work-environment claim.

The court said:

"No one … touched her inappropriately, propositioned her for sex, or pressured her for romance. She was not assigned more work or paid less than a male social work administrator. Rather, she had generalized complaints that [her supervisor] was rude to her, gave her extra work, and favored a female coworker; specific complaints about a handful of inappropriate things said between 2015 and early 2019 (mostly about other people); and complaints that management failed to take prompt remedial measures. Unlike many plaintiffs who allege that harassment forced them to quit and argue constructive discharge, White remained on the job, a job she still enjoys after [her supervisor] was terminated. White was never demoted or transferred, either."