Walk the Walk

September 20th, 2012 by JBWK

Because according to one federal appeals court, simply talking the talk isn’t enough to avoid $3.5 million in punitive damages.

In a hostile work environment case, the Seventh Circuit said Chrysler was so relaxed in its response to three years of severe harassment that punitive damages were warranted. It took few concrete steps to actually stop the harassment–by all accounts extremely caustic–over the course of three years.

Once employers learn of harassment, they have to take reasonable steps to remedy or prevent it. Here, the court said, Chrysler talked the talk, but didn’t walk the walk, hence the punitive damages.

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