While the employer may have won this lawsuit, it’s a textbook example of how managers shouldn’t act and how general horseplay can come back to haunt them.
Meet the appropriately named Perry Payne, a manager whose actions a court deemed to be “manifestly inappropriate and obnoxious.”
Shortly after Payne took the position of retail team manager at the global tobacco company Swedish Match, which has an operation here in the U.S., he quickly developed an adversarial relationship with direct report Donald Rickard, a salesman.
Rickard believed Payne had it out for him, claiming he was scrutinized more closely than his coworkers and “unjustifiably criticized” by Payne.
Rickard also alleged that Payne engaged in inappropriate, crude behavior, which included:
- grabbing Rickard’s nipple, squeezing it and stating, “this is a form of sexual harassment.”
- taking a towel from Rickard, which Payne then rubbed on his own crotch before giving it back.
Following these incidents Rickard complained to Payne’s supervisor, and the crude behavior stopped.
Still, their relationship remained acrimonious.
Rickard then began experiencing health issues, which he attributed to the stress of working with Payne. Shortly thereafter, Rickard retired, publicly blaming his retirement on his health, while privately telling others Payne forced him to retire.
But there was never a formal recommendation or decision to terminate Rickard, according to court documents.
Sexual harassment suit
Following his retirement, Rickard sued Swedish Match, claiming he was sexually harassed on the job.
A district court granted the company summary judgment and threw Rickard’s case out. He appealed, and an appellate court affirmed the district court’s decision.
But what about the nipple grab and crotch gesture, you might ask?
For Rickard’s sexual harassment claim to stand, the court said he needed to show one of three things:
- Payne’s actions were motivated by sexual desire.
- Swedish Match harbored a general hostility toward men in the workplace.
- Similarly situated individuals of the opposite sex were treated more favorably (the only argument Rickard didn’t try to make).
After looking at the evidence Rickard presented, the court ruled that while Payne’s actions were “manifestly inappropriate and obnoxious,” they weren’t enough to show that Payne harbored hostility against men or some sexual desire for Rickard.
What about Payne’s comment — “this is a form of sexual harassment” — which he made while grabbing Rickard’s nipple?
This is what the court had to say about that: “This court will not take the statement of a layperson — Payne — as definitive proof that his actions qualified as sexual harassment under the law.”
As a result, the court wrapped up the case by saying: “Without more than Rickard’s speculation, a reasonable juror could not find Payne’s actions — although contemptible — amounted to harassment based on sex.”
Case closed.
Cite: Rickard v. Swedish Match North America Inc.
