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If Your Supervisor Sexually Discriminates Against You, and Retal
If Your Supervisor Sexually Discriminates Against You, and Retaliates When You Complain, Is He/She Personally Liable?
Kimberly Payne worked for U.S. Airways. In 1999 she suffered a work-related back injury. Her Supervisor failed to investigate the claim for Worker’s Compensation benefits (WCB), forced her to use sick leave, interfered with her medical treatment by telling her therapist to release her for long hours, and when we she applied for WCB, told her she couldn’t get retroactive benefits.
She began to suffer from depression and anxiety as a result of her financial condition, and took medical leave for an additional two years. Her therapist said the mental condition was caused by her financial condition. Following a complaint, the Attorney General’s office agreed that she was being retaliated against for filing for WCB. U.S. Air fired her in 2001, claiming she had abandoned her job. Payne sued both U.S. Air and the Supervisor for retaliation, disability discrimination and sex discrimination.
U.S. Air went bankrupt. Payne continued her suit against the Supervisor. The trial court dismissed her suit saying the Vermont Fair Employment Practices Act (VFEPA) didn’t permit suits for money damages against employees of a company, only the company itself. The trial judge said that VFEPA was modeled after the Federal Civil Rights Act and Federal Courts have uniformly ruled Title VII did not permit suits against individual supervisors. Further five of six state courts that had considered the question under their own state laws had agreed with the U.S. Courts. Payne appealed.
The Vermont Supreme Court ruled for Payne. In a unanimous opinion the Court ruled that although Federal cases can be helpful “we will not adopt an interpretation of VFEPA solely because the federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court” have ruled the other way in interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. As to the State Courts that agreed with the U.S. courts, our Court disagreed with them and said that Supervisors can be personally liable if they act in ways that are outside the scope of legitimate management authority. (That is, like the Nuremberg war crimes, following orders may not be a defense.) The Vermont Legislature had used terms in the VFEPA that clearly indicated an intention to make individual supervisors liable for money damages, the Court said, and it would enforce what the Legislature intended.
The Court’s opinion exhaustively pointed out in 13 pages that the Vermont Legislature had clearly stated an intention to give greater employment rights to its residents than had the Federal Government, and several other States. The case in not mere Vermont chauvinism. It vindicates the Legislature’s ability to legislate as it see fit so long as the Constitution is not violated. Perhaps supervisors should urge employers to buy insurance for them! Payne vs. U.S.Airways, Cline, Stanley and Ansaldi 2009 VT 90
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