Employment Attorney Settles Employment Discrimination Matter on Behalf of Victimized Former Employee

Kieran M. Dowling recently settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of a former employee of a hair salon.

The suit alleged violations of New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD), sexual assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and constructive discharge.

The plaintiff alleged that the salon’s defendant co-owner had subjected her and other employees to persistent sexual harassment.

The defendant co-owner’s behavior toward subordinate employees went unchecked, and he eventually assaulted the plaintiff

When the plaintiff reported the assault to a supervisor and the salon’s other co-owner, the salon took no action to address her complaints. Instead, the co-owner offered her a nominal amount of hush money in exchange for a confidentiality agreement. Notably, the hair salon had no harassment, discrimination, or retaliation policy in place. Likewise, the salon did not provide any harassment, discrimination, or retaliation training to its employees and supervisors.

The plaintiff suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the sexual assault and the hair salon’s failure to address the repeated harassment.

The case was settled for $150,000.00 at mediation before depositions commenced.