Hostile work environment claim dismissed, retaliation claim reinstated
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A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld dismissal of a hostile work environment claim filed by a terminated charter pilot, but reinstated his retaliation claim.
Terrence Bar, who had worked as a pilot for Ypsilanti, Michigan-based Kalitta Charters II LLC, was terminated from his job in August 2020.
He filed suit against his former employer in U.S. District Court in Detroit alleging a hostile work environment, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, based on sexual harassment, and retaliation for opposing that harassment, according to the ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati in Terrance Bar v. Kalitta Charters II.
Mr. Bar said he was shown a homosexual pornographic video on a colleague’s cellphone, then was retaliated against for complaining about it - including by being required to report to an airport that was a four-hour drive from his house - before being terminated.
The U.S. District Court in Detroit granted Kalitta summary judgment dismissing the case. A three-judge appeals court panel affirmed dismissal of the hostile work environment claim, but reinstated the retaliation claim.
Mr. Barr “failed to allege sufficient facts establishing that Kilitta is liable as an employer” for his colleague’s conduct, the ruling said.
But his allegations provide “sufficient factual content” to draw “the reasonable inference” that Kalitta retaliated against him for complaining about the conduct, it said, in citing an earlier case, and reinstating the retaliation claim.
Attorneys in the case did not respond to requests for comment.
On Monday, federal appeals court vacated a $6 million noneconomic damages jury award given to a former International Business Machines Corp. employee in a wrongful termination and retaliation case, stating it was “shockingly excessive.”
