Case: Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co.

5:88-cv-00163 | U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

Filed Date: Aug. 15, 1988

Closed Date: April 7, 2000

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Case Summary

This case is the first time a sexual harassment claim was successfully brought against an employer as a class action. On August 15, 1988, two women who worked in the Eveleth iron mine filed suit against the mine under Title VII and the Minnesota Human Rights Act. They sought class action certification as a class of "all women who have applied for, or have been employed in hourly positions at Eveleth Mines at any time since December 30, 1983, and who have been, are being, or as the result of the…

This case is the first time a sexual harassment claim was successfully brought against an employer as a class action. On August 15, 1988, two women who worked in the Eveleth iron mine filed suit against the mine under Title VII and the Minnesota Human Rights Act. They sought class action certification as a class of "all women who have applied for, or have been employed in hourly positions at Eveleth Mines at any time since December 30, 1983, and who have been, are being, or as the result of the operation of current practices, will be discriminated against with regard to the terms and conditions of their employment because of their sex," and an injunction forcing the mine to adopt a sexual harassment policy. The case was initially heard in front of Judge James M. Rosenbaum. Plaintiffs were represented by private counsel.

Background

Affirmative action came to the Iron Range in 1974 when the U.S. government forced steel companies fill at least 20% of their jobs with women and minorities. The following year, Lois Jenson was hired as one of the first female workers in the Eveleth iron mine in northern Minnesota. Along with her fellow female coworkers, she faced sexual and gender-based harassment from the men who believed women should remain at home and not compete with men for scarce jobs. Jenson was also stalked by one of her supervisors. Complaints filed with management went unheard.

In 1984, Jenson filed a grievance complaint through her union and also mailed a complaint to the Minnesota Human Rights Department detailing the abuse she experienced in the mines. After reviewing the case, in 1987 the state asked the mine's part owner Ogelby Norton Co. to pay $11,000 in damages to Jenson and adopt a sexual harassment policy, but the company refused.

Class action certification

The Minnesota Attorney General agreed to bring the case as a class action, but Jenson eventually sought private counsel. In 1988, employment discrimination lawyers Paul Sprenger and Jean Boler filed the initial complaint on behalf of Jenson and senior union member, Pat Kosmach. One other woman joined the case and an amended complaint was filed to include her as a plaintiff and the union as a defendant on March 14, 1989. Frightened by the possibility of retaliation, other women who worked in the mines circulated a petition speaking out against the lawsuit. On February 1, 1991 plaintiffs moved to certify the class action and to consolidate consideration of class issues with trial. Discovery proceeded and a hearing on this motion began on May 13, 1991. On Dec 16, 1991, Judge Rosembaum certified the class, denied the injunction, and granted the motion to consider further class-related issues at trial. 139 F.R.D. 657 (D. Minn. 1991). This case became the first sexual harassment lawsuit in history to be given class action status.

Liability Trial

The plaintiffs moved to bifurcate the trial on July 16, 1992, and the case was split into a two phases to separately determine liability and damages. The liability trial was held in front of Judge Richard Kyle beginning on December 17, 1992 in St. Paul, Minnesota. On May 14, 1993, the judge ruled for plaintiffs on their class claims of sex discrimination in promotion and sexual harassment under both Title VII and the MHRA, dismissing other claims but awarding attorney's fees. 824 F.Supp. 847 (D. Minn. 1993). He also granted injunctive relief, and ordered Eveleth to educate all employees about sexual harassment and implement a sexual harassment policy. More women joined the lawsuit to claim damages, including a number who had signed the petition against the lawsuit and had testified on behalf of Eveleth Mines in the first trial. About this time, Jenson and another plaintiff in the case were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had to stop working at the mine.

Damages Trial

Judge Kyle allowed the damages claims to be heard before a special master, appointing retired federal magistrate Judge Patrick J. McNulty. Later media interviews and accounts of the case describe this part of the case as very difficult for plaintiffs and other women involved: in order to minimize the company's liability, Eveleth's lead counsel sought to prove that the women either caused the harassment by their own behavior towards their male coworkers, or were lying about the severity and the psychological effects of the harassment. The judge permitted Eveleth's lawyers to obtain the women's medical histories from birth, and before the trial plaintiffs endured close to 80 days of depositions that explored their past personal and sexual lives in great detail.

The damages trial began on January 17, 1995 and continued on and off in the following months. According to later interviews with plaintiff's attorney Sprenger, throughout testimony Judge McNulty frequently fell asleep; when awake, he seemed to enjoy hearing about the women's ordeal. His post-trial report, issued on March 28, 1996, called the women "histrionic" and recommended awards between $2,000 and $25,000 to each class member, with an average award of $10,000. Plaintiffs' counsel appealed to Judge Kyle, who affirmed the report and recommendation on November 12, 1996. Plaintiffs subsequently appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which issued an opinion on December 5, 1997 vacating the damages award. 130 F.3d 1287. They remanded for a jury trial on the issue of damages. The mine owner filed a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied to hear the case in June 1998. Trial was set to proceed in January 1999.

Settlement

On December 31, 1998, Judge John Tunheim approved a settlement between plaintiffs and the mine company for a total of $3.5 million dollars. Exact awards to individual plaintiffs were not disclosed. On March 14, 2000, both sides were granted attorney's fees and costs, but this order was subsequently vacated on a joint motion, perhaps indicating a private settlement between the parties regarding attorneys' fees. The judge issued an order dismissing all remaining claims with prejudice on April 7, 2000.

Related case

A second docket exists for a case that has the same individual plaintiffs, Jenson and Anderson, and is marked as related: 5:93-cv-00026-RHK-JMM. This case was brought on February 26, 1993, in front of Judge Kyle and settled separately on August 5, 1997. Documents for this case are unavailable, and it is unclear exactly what the subject matter of this case is or how it is related to the broader class action.

Summary Authors

Hetali Lodaya (7/6/2020)

People


Judge(s)
Attorney for Plaintiff

Boler, Jean M. (Washington)

Coler, Susan M (Minnesota)

Fleming, Timothy B. (District of Columbia)

Attorney for Defendant

Duffy, Walter J. Jr. (Minnesota)

Engberg, John G. (Minnesota)

show all people

Documents in the Clearinghouse

Document

5:88-cv-00163

Docket

Aug. 15, 2005

Aug. 15, 2005

Docket
105

5:88-cv-00163

District Court Opinion (certifying the class and denying preliminary injunction)

Dec. 18, 1991

Dec. 18, 1991

Order/Opinion
227

5:88-cv-00163

District Court Judgment (for plaintiffs in part and dismissed in part)

May 14, 1993

May 14, 1993

Order/Opinion

97-01147

8th Circuit Opinion

U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Dec. 5, 1997

Dec. 5, 1997

Order/Opinion

97-01765

Supreme Court Decision (denying petition for writ of certiorari)

Oglebay Norton Co. v. Jenson

Supreme Court of the United States

June 26, 1998

June 26, 1998

Order/Opinion

Resources

Docket

Last updated Jan. 23, 2024, 3:03 a.m.

Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.

Case Details

State / Territory: Minnesota

Case Type(s):

Equal Employment

Key Dates

Filing Date: Aug. 15, 1988

Closing Date: April 7, 2000

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

Named plaintiffs were mine employees, who sought class certification for "all women who have applied for, or have been employed in hourly positions at Eveleth Mines at any time since December 30, 1983, and who have been, are being, or as the result of the operation of current practices, will be discriminated against with regard to the terms and conditions of their employment because of their sex."

Plaintiff Type(s):

Private Plaintiff

Public Interest Lawyer: Unknown

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: Yes

Class Action Outcome: Granted

Defendants

Eveleth Taconite Company, Private Entity/Person

Eveleth Expansion Company, Private Entity/Person

Ogelbay Norton Company, Private Entity/Person

Ogelbay Norton Taconite Company, Private Entity/Person

United Steel Workers of America, Local 6860, Private Entity/Person

Case Details

Causes of Action:

Title VII (including PDA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e

State Anti-Discrimination Law

Available Documents:

Trial Court Docket

Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief

Any published opinion

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Mixed

Nature of Relief:

Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement

Damages

Source of Relief:

Settlement

Litigation

Form of Settlement:

Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree

Amount Defendant Pays: 3.5 million

Content of Injunction:

Develop anti-discrimination policy

Issues

General:

Pattern or Practice

Retaliation

Discrimination-area:

Discipline

Harassment / Hostile Work Environment

Other Conditions of Employment (including assignment, transfer, hours, working conditions, etc)

Pay / Benefits

Promotion

Training

Discrimination-basis:

Sex discrimination

Affected Sex or Gender:

Female

EEOC-centric:

Direct Suit on Merits