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Rymal v. Baergen6/8/2004
stified:
He came right out and told me. He told me that he was in love with me[,] that I was the only woman that he had ever considered leaving his wife for[,] that he wished that I felt the same way about him that he felt about me, and I guess he really didn't understand why I wasn't interested in resuming that relationship since I was no longer married . . . ."
Baergen did not specifically ask plaintiff to engage in sexual relations. After the dinner, plaintiff and Baergen went to meet drivers for a short meeting related to the MTD business and nothing unusual occurred at the meeting. Within a day or so after the dinner, Baergen sent a letter to plaintiff, which could reasonably be construed as an apology for his behavior at dinner in putting plaintiff on the spot regarding resuming the relationship and indicating that Baergen may have had a few too many drinks. The letter, while reflecting a tone of love and disappointment, yet apologetic, also contained the following cryptic words of advice: "Be careful as you seek out little pockets of happiness. Everything in life has a price tag and payment always comes due." Baergen made no further attempts to resume the prior sexual relationship.
Plaintiff testified that after her rejection of Baergen's advances, he initiated a campaign against plaintiff at work that included angry and volatile verbal explosions directed at plaintiff, screaming, swearing, and demeaning language. Baergen would berate plaintiff allegedly without justification, and he, at times, would throw things such as pencils during an angry outburst. Plaintiff asserted that Baergen would accuse her of being on the phone too long, having sexual relationships with male customers and clients, and of not properly performing her job. And he would question her about her lunchtime activities, asking if she had engaged in sexual relations with others. Baergen was constantly commenting about plaintiff's personal life and denigrating plaintiff's work and the work of employees under her supervision. One time, Baergen became so inflamed over a believed affair that he punched a wall and had to seek medical treatment. Plaintiff stated that, in the last three months of her employment, which ended with MTD and Clark in July 2000 when plaintiff quit or was "constructively discharged," there was virtually an outburst or incident a day. Often, Baergen would berate plaintiff to tears and in front of other employees. A Clark employee testified in his deposition that he recalled an incident in which he was merely assisting plaintiff in finding something in the Clark warehouse, for which Baergen became enraged to the point that he screamed at plaintiff, calling her a "f *g dumb bitch," which left plaintiff in tears. This employee also recalled Baergen communicating to him that plaintiff was having an affair with a particular customer. Other employees testified about Baergen's outbursts at plaintiff, or verbal confrontations between plaintiff and Baergen, along with seeing plaintiff in tears as a result. Baergen would also discuss with others whether plaintiff was having sexual relations with a customer. Although the time frame was not always specific as to particular incidents, it can be gleaned from the deposition testimony of all those deposed that the verbally abusive behavior occurred from November 1999 through July 2000 when plaintiff left the companies. Additionally, it appears that the verbally abusive behavior occurred on Clark's premises.
Within a week of the dinner, Baergen asked plaintiff to sign a non-compete agreement for Clark, and plaintiff refused without incident. Plaintiff acknowledged that Clark had previously sought a non-compete agreement from her and other empl
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