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Lara v. Buckley Boradcasting Corporation of Monterey1/30/2002
iends, and feared McCarty would fire her if she went to him with the problem. She also hoped Clemons eventually would stop soliciting her if she continued to respond negatively. That would not be the case, however.
Finally, in November of 1997, Lara told Clemons "`I'm tired of this. I don't want you to involve me in your sexual experience or conversations any more.'" The solicitations stopped, but Clemons continued to tell Lara about her relationship with Eddie De La Cruz, despite Lara's protestations. Moreover, according to Lara, Clemons's attitude toward her "totally changed," and she became very critical of Lara's work.
Matters continued in this way until the morning of February 5, 1998. Clemons and Lara had a minor disagreement at work, Clemons slammed a file drawer, Lara said "`What is your problem?' And things got out of hand from there." Lara told Clemons she did not like the way Clemons was treating her, and cited several examples of what she perceived to be Clemons's unhelpful and overly-critical attitude. By then Lara was crying and talking very loudly. Clemons suggested she go speak to McCarty.
Lara talked to McCarty that same morning. McCarty met several more times over the course of the day with Lara, Clemons, or both together. There is some disagreement about whether McCarty actually fired Lara that afternoon, or merely suspended her with pay, but in any case she did not return to the station except to pick up her final paycheck on the evening of February 10.
There is also considerable disagreement between Lara and McCarty regarding the content of their discussions that day. McCarty testified Lara was very upset and voiced a rambling and generally "incoherent" list of grievances focussed on Clemons's poor attitude. Most notably, according to McCarty, Lara said nothing until their very last meeting about Clemons's sexual propositions. The accusation seemed to him to be an "afterthought" intended only to get Clemons into trouble. And Clemons denied the accusation. So McCarty concluded it had no substance. Lara was fired, he said, for insubordination.
According to Lara on the other hand, she told McCarty very clearly at their first meeting that she felt sexually harassed by Clemons, who had solicited her repeatedly for three-way sex, had put her in the middle of her relationship with Eddie De La Cruz, and who had treated her badly since Lara insisted she stop. McCarty, she said, showed little interest in these allegations, made no real inquiry into the details, and professed to be somewhat bewildered by the whole thing.
Lara brought the present action later the same year. Her third amended complaint, filed December 24, 1998, asserted four causes of action: sexual harassment in the form of a hostile work environment (against Buckley); wrongful termination in retaliation for reporting the harassment (against Buckley); intentional infliction of emotional distress (against Clemons); and negligent training and supervision (against Buckley). The first and second causes of action were premised on violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA or the Act) (Gov. Code, ยง 12900 et seq.).
Following a 21-day trial, the jury returned special verdicts in favor of Lara. The jury rejected the second and third causes of action completely. As for the first, it found Buckley had created or permitted a hostile work environment to exist, but found Lara had not suffered any damages as a result. As for the fourth cause of action, it found Buckley liable for negligent training and/or supervision and awarded Lara non-economic damages in the amount of $100,000. It awarded her no economic damages.
Buckley then moved for
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