Charlottesville District Court Allows Sexual Harassment Case To Proceed

Charlottesville District Court Judge Moon issued an opinion allowing a Title VII sexual harassment case to proceed against Carter Bank. The case is pending in federal court, not the Virginia state court system. The reason for this is that the action arises under a federal statute and so the federal court has jurisdiction to hear the matter. The lawsuit alleges that 3 female employees of the bank were sexually harassed by a female supervisor and that the bank did not prevent the behavior. The case includes a count asking for punitive damages. Such cases require very specific factual allegations if they are going to be allowed to proceed. It is not enough just to allege bad behavior. A well drafted complaint will set out the various instances of sexual harassment so that the court can make an initial determination that the essential elements of the claim have been outlined. In this case, the plaintiffs described several instances of sexually harassing behavior and so survived the defendant's challenge to their case. Discovery in the case is the next step and ultimately, a jury trial may be scheduled if the parties cannot agree on a settlement.



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