Employment Law Victories

Six Figure Settlement For Sexual Harassment and Wrongful Termination Victim

A client working as a medical assistant for a San Bernardino company was sexually harassed by her supervisor (a doctor). He repeatedly talked about her buttocks and breasts, offered her money to expose herself, intimated that he would like to receive oral sex from her, masturbated in her presence and walked around in his underwear in front of her. When the woman reported the conduct to management, she was fired.

Before coming to The Cowan Law Firm, our client filed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint with the EEOC. An EEOC mediation where she did not have a lawyer failed when the company rejected the woman’s six figure demand while refusing to pay more than $10,000. The woman retained The Cowan Law Firm. We spent several months hunting down and interviewing witnesses. Ultimately we obtained signed statements corroborating our client’s story. After being advised of these developments, the company agreed to mediate the dispute in December 2007 with a retired judge before the woman’s deadline to file a lawsuit compelled litigation. This time the company paid not only six figures to settle the dispute but also a sum that was 50% more than the offer it rejected at the EEOC mediation.