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In the case of Brittell v. Department of Corrections, a former employee sought review of the decision of the Superior Court which found in favor of the defendant former employer in former employee's action to recover damages for alleged sexual harassment and employment discrimination.
The former employee filed a complaint against her former employer for discrimination on the basis of sexual harassment, after circulation of rumors that she was a lesbian and rumors that she used to be a man prevented her from being able to perform her job responsibilities, which made her feel threatened by the inmates at the correctional facility where she was stationed, and which caused her to seek medical care. Former employer created and announced a policy against sexual harassment and investigated former employee's complaints. When former employer was unable to learn the exact identity of the people spreading the rumors, they offered to transfer former employee to another unit. When former employee declined, she took a permanent medical leave of absence. When former employee failed to return to work, she was considered to have resigned her position. The trial court found in favor of former employer. On appeal, the court held that the trial court's finding was proper because former employer's remedial response to former employee was adequate and that employee was not constructively discharged from her position upon her failure to return to work after taking permanent medical leave.
The court affirmed the judgment of the trial court. “Had the [employee] established that she was given the choice either to continue working with the officers and inmate population at the correctional center or to leave the employ of the [correctional facility], she might well have prevailed on this element of her claim” said the court. “When the [employee] left on permanent medical leave, however, she had rejected the [employer’s] offer of a transfer to any one of several facilities. We cannot say that the likelihood of sexual harassment at these facilities was such that a reasonable person would have felt compelled to leave rather than face the possibility of a recurrence of the harassing conduct. We conclude, therefore, that the record supports the trial court's conclusion that the [employee] failed to meet her burden of proving a constructive discharge and the trial court's determination in this regard was not clearly erroneous.”
If you feel you have been mistreated by your employer or in your place of employment and would like to explore your employment law options, contact the experienced employment law attorneys today at 203-221-3100, or by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com. We have the experience and knowledge you need at this critical juncture. We serve clients in both New York and Connecticut including New Canaan, Bridgeport, White Plains, and Darien.
Source: Brittell v. Department of Correction, 247 Conn. 148, 717 A.2d 1254, 1998 Conn. LEXIS 344 (Conn. 1998)
