In September, the EEOC district office of Norfolk, Virginia brought this suit against Bon Secours-DePaul Medical Center, Inc., a full service medical facility in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The complaint alleged that Bon Secours unlawfully retaliated against one of its employees in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was alleged that Bon Secours unlawfully terminated a hospital administrator for verbally warning a nurse about sexually inappropriate workplace behavior. After a few minor discovery disputes, a jury trial commenced in August 2003. During the course of the four day trial, both parties motioned for judgment as a matter of law. The court denied all of these motions. At the end of the trial, a verdict was announced in favor of the plaintiff, EEOC.

Due to standing defendant motions for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, the court directed the clerk to not enter judgment in the case. The court eventually denied the defendant's motions and the parties entered into a consent decree in March 2004. Although the text of this document is not available to us, we do know that the complainant was awarded $360,000 and the defendant was required to provide training to all employees of Bon Secours and post notices.

Joel Pettit - 05/29/2007


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