Company will appeal sex harassment ruling
The Japan-based travel company and one of its managers who were ordered to pay $1.2 million to a former employee for sexual harassment and wrongful termination will appeal this week's jury verdict, their lawyer said yesterday.
Beyond that, the company has not made any decisions regarding the case, said Emlyn Higa, the lawyer for H.I.S. Hawaii.
"We're still evaluating what happened," said Higa, who would not comment further on the case or the allegations.
John Shortridge, the Waikiki customer service manager who was identified in the lawsuit as the primary harasser, is still employed by the company and is undergoing training in Japan to become general manager of the company's Vietnam branch, said Higa, who also represented Shortridge.
Laurent Remillard Jr., the lawyer of former employee Rieko Aoki, said he believes the jury ordered H.I.S. to pay his client $1 million in punitive damages because the company took no action to stop the harassment.
"H.I.S. rejected Ms. Aoki's sexual harassment claims and in fact promoted the manager, the primary harasser, and ultimately promoted Mr. Shortridge to chief operating officer of the company," Remillard said.
He said the verdict should send a strong message to all employers in Hawaii that they need to abide by the laws, protect victims of sexual harassment and punish those who engage in sexual harassment.
The jury on Wednesday also ordered H.I.S. to pay Aoki $135,000 in compensatory damages and ordered Shortridge to pay $100,000 in punitive damages.
During the course of her 14-month employment with H.I.S., Aoki, 29, was subjected to repeated groping and attempts to remove her bra by Shortridge and others, Remillard said. Shortridge also repeatedly pressed on Aoki's breasts with pens and picked her up from behind to attempt to expose her undergarments, he said.
Remillard said Shortridge also repeatedly pressed Aoki for sexual favors, referred to her using a sexually demeaning nickname, and spread malicious sexual rumors about her.
It was after her repeated protests became more vocal that the company fired Aoki, Remillard said.
Aoki was employed by H.I.S. from Aug. 21, 2002, to Oct. 7, 2003, as a customer service agent, according to her lawsuit. She filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Nov. 25, 2003, and filed her state civil lawsuit on May 10, 2004.
Higa said H.I.S. started an internal investigation after Aoki filed her EEOC complaint. It then hired a new human resources manager, began rewriting its employee policy regarding sexual harassment and began training employees about sexual harassment before the investigation was over and before Aoki filed her lawsuit, he said.
