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Harmon v. GZK2/8/2002
Rendered on the 8th day of February, 2002.
Plaintiffs Pamela Harmon, Crystal Steck, and Sonya Johnson appeal from a summary judgment in favor of their former employer, Defendants, GZK, Inc. ("GZK"), and two individuals, on Plaintiffs' claims for relief alleging hostile work environment sexual harassment, and related claims.
We affirm the judgment of the trial court with respect to Plaintiff Crystal Steck's claims against GZK and Jerry Zink for retaliatory discharge and common law wrongful discharge. We reverse the judgment of the trial court on the Plaintiffs' remaining claims, and remand the cause to the trial court, for the reasons that follow.
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
A. Pamela Harmon's Employment with GZK
Pamela Harmon began working as a shift leader trainee at the Brown Street Lee's Famous Recipe Restaurant, which is owned and operated by GZK, in May 1996. There she worked with a cook named Larry Barrett. Barrett soon began calling Harmon "honey," "baby," and "sweetheart," and asking her to go on a date with him. Harmon was married and found the comments offensive, and repeatedly told Barrett to stop making them.
Over time, Barrett's comments toward Harmon became more sexually explicit and vulgar. Barrett allegedly told Harmon that he would "like to get a piece of ass," that he would like to "stick his penis in ass," that he would like to "have sex with in ass," and that he "bet would like to suck this dick."
Barrett would often say similar things about store customers to Harmon. According to Harmon, on more than one occasion Barrett grabbed Harmon's buttocks, and he often rubbed his whole body against her when passing her, pretending the contact was accidental.
When Manager Pat Malloy was hired in 1996, Harmon attended a meeting that the store held to introduce Malloy. Harmon recalled that Area Supervisor Tony Wilkins and Manager Claire Keeton also attended the meeting. During the meeting, Keeton brought up the offensive comments that Barrett had allegedly made about her breasts. Harmon also spoke about the offensive conduct she endured from Barrett. Harmon told Wilkins that she did not like Barrett's conduct and that Wilkins "needed to stop it." Wilkins responded that " here's nothing can do about it" because "he our only good cook."
Harmon entered management training in January 1997, and left the Brown Street store to become the manager of another GZK location in May 1997. Harmon took a voluntary demotion and returned to the Brown Street store as an assistant manager in February 1998. Barrett's sexually explicit comments toward her resumed.
One day Harmon was talking with Wilkins and Malloy when either Wilkins or Malloy asked Barrett to retrieve paper products from a shed. Harmon later testified:
Larry [Barrett] looked at me and said, Pam, why don't you go out there with me. I said leave me alone. He told me, girl, I'll take you out there and rape you. That's when I looked at Tony [Wilkins] and Pat [Malloy] expecting something to happen. They sat there and laughed about it. Later that day I took Tony and Pat out to the lobby and I told them I did not appreciate it. I was raped before, I took [Barrett's comment] very seriously and I did not like it. I wanted something to be done. (Harmon Depo. p. 156).
Barrett's lewd comments toward Harmon continued after this incident. Harmon transferred to the night shift, but she encountered Barrett on other occasions. On one occasion Harmon found Barrett sitting in her desk chair and asked him to move. Instead Barrett grabbed Harmon and pulled her onto his lap and attempted to hold her
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