Sexual Harassment:

An Update on the Law,

Policies, Training and

Investigations

A Continuing Legal Education Program

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

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Sexual Harassment: An Update on the Law, Policies, Training and Investigations

Wednesday, October 17, 2018 NH Bar Association Seminar Room, Concord

Faculty Roster

Julie A. Moore, Program Chair/ CLE Committee Member Employment Practices Group 8 Rice Street Wellesley, MA 02481 978-975-0080 Fax: 978-683-8027 jmoore@employmentpg.com

Mark T. Broth Drummond Woodsum & MacMahon 1001 Elm Street, Suite 303 Manchester, NH 03101-1845 603-716-2895 Fax: 603-716-2899 mbroth@dwmlaw.com

Heather M. Burns Upton & Hatfield, LLP 10 Centre Street, PO Box 1090 Concord, NH 03302-1090 603-224-7791 Fax: 603-224-0320 hburns@uptonhatfield.com

Sean R. List Backus, Meyer & Branch, LLP 116 Lowell Street, PO Box 516 Manchester, NH 03105-0516 603-668-7272 Fax: 603-668-0730 slist@backusmeyer.com

Deborah L. Maddux Van Dermyden Maddux Law Corporation 2520 Venture Oaks Way, Suite 450 Sacramento, CA 95833 916-779-2402 dlm@vmlawcorp.com

Jason R.L. Major Backus, Meyer & Branch, LLP 116 Lowell Street, PO Box 516 Manchester, NH 03105-0516 603-668-7272 Fax: 603-668-0730 jmajor@backusmeyer.com

Marcie E. Vaughan Employment Practices Group 155 Fleet Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 617-335-3216 mvaughan@employmentpg.com

Sexual Harassment: An Update on the Law, Policies, Training and Investigations

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Faculty

Julie A. Moore, Program Chair/CLE Committee Member, is president and founder of Employment Practices Group in Wellesley, MA. She founded EPG in 1998 to work with employers on employment law issues and preventative strategies and best practices of human resource management. Julie consults and advises on workplace issues; is retained as an independent investigator for alleged harassment and other forms of misconduct; conducts training on harassment and other workplace topics; drafts policies, procedures and handbooks; represents employees and employers in workplace matters; and acts as an expert witness on employment practices. She is an appointed member and vice chair of the Town of Wellesley’s Human Resources Board, overseeing a staff of five employees. Julie frequently conducts in-house seminars for employers and trade organizations and speaks at CLE programs for many organizations. She has authored many publications in legal and trade journals. Julie earned her B.A. from Boston College in 1988 and her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1992. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the New Hampshire Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Bar Association. Julie is a past chair and current member of the NHBA’s Labor & Employment Law Section, and a long-time member of the NHBA's CLE Committee. She is a former board member and former conference chair for the Association of Workplace Investigators, a board member and program chair for the Greater Merrimack Valley Human Resources Association, and a member of the Society for Human Resources Management. Julie has SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications in human resources. She was inducted into the College of Labor and Employment Attorneys in 2013.

Mark T. Broth is a shareholder at Drummond, Woodsum & MacMahon in Manchester, NH. He represents employers in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship, incorporating over 35 years of experience in both employment litigation and client counseling. Mark earned his B.A. from Colgate University in 1979 and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1982. He is a fellow of The College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, a member of the NHBA’s Federal Practice Section and a member and past chair of the NHBA’s Labor & Employment Law Section. Mark writes and speaks frequently on a broad variety of labor and employment law topics.

Heather M. Burns is a partner with Upton & Hatfield, LLP in Concord, NH where her practice involves primarily litigation, representing plaintiffs in employment discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, Family and Medical Leave Act, and other employment cases involving both federal and state law. Heather regularly represents employees before the New Hampshire Human Rights Commission, the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, and the New Hampshire Department of Labor. In addition, she has successfully litigated numerous employment cases in both the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire, numerous state superior courts, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court. She earned her undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA and her J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center (now UNH School of Law). Heather is a member of both the NHBA’s Labor & Employment Law (past chair) and Federal Practice Sections; a member of both the National and New Hampshire Chapters of the National Employment Lawyers Association; and is a past president of the NH Association for Justice. She is also a member of the NHBA’s Gender Equality Committee, the NH Women’s Bar Association, and a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Heather volunteers as a mediator for the New Hampshire Human Rights Commission Mediation Program. She’s a co-author of the annual supplement to the “Labor & Employment in New Hampshire” treatise, which is

a guide to state and federal laws and regulations governing all aspects of the employee-employer relationship in NH. Heather is a frequent speaker on employment law issues.

Sean R. List is a partner at Backus, Meyer & Branch, LLP in Manchester, NH. His primary practice areas are employment law and criminal defense, but he also litigates select civil rights and personal injury cases. Additionally, Sean advises individuals and businesses involved with the firearm industry. Despite his young age, Sean has successfully tried cases in both state and federal court, including taking the lead role in a sexual harassment jury trial in May of 2018, which yielded a verdict of $110,000 and awarded attorneys' fees and costs of over $160,000. Sean has also appeared before the National Labor Relations Board in Boston and has testified at the New Hampshire Legislature on multiple occasions. He is a 2015 graduate of the Daniel Webster Scholar Program at UNH School of Law.

Deborah L. Maddux, a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), is one of two founding partners of Van Dermyden Maddux Law Corporation. The firm specializes in workplace and campus investigations. Her practice focuses on investigating claims of workplace misconduct, including claims of harassment, discrimination, retaliation and improper governmental activities. Deborah provides hearing officer and mediation services, and counseling regarding employment matters. She trains all levels of management on a variety of legal issues, including sexual harassment and discrimination prevention, and best management practices. Deborah also trains in-house staff investigators regarding how to conduct effective investigations, ensuring that internal reviews are fair and thorough.

Jason R.L. Major is a partner at Backus, Meyer & Branch, LLP in Manchester, N.H. His practice centers on litigation of employment and discrimination claims and personal injury matters, but he has broad litigation experience including local government matters, police misconduct cases, consumer class action litigation, insurance coverage disputes and firearms law. He is a graduate of UNH and the UNH School of Law. Jason has been practicing employment law since the early 2000's and has successfully prosecuted many cases before state and federal EEO agencies as well as state and federal courts, most recently assisting his partner Sean List in his May, 2018 federal jury trial that resulted in a $110,000 verdict in a sex harassment case.

Marcie E. Vaughan has been working with Employment Practices Group since 2012. A significant portion of her practice focuses on conducting workplace investigations. She also provides advice and counsel to employers on employment related issues, including reasonable accommodations, performance management, workplace policies, leaves of absence, wage and hour issues, and hiring and termination, among others. Marcie is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New Hampshire; she is a 1996 graduate of Bates College, a 2002 graduate of Suffolk University's Sawyer School of Management, and a 2006 graduate of Suffolk University Law School. She frequently speaks and publishes on employment-law related matters.

Sexual Harassment: An Update on the Law, Policies, Training and Investigations

NH Bar Association Seminar Room, Concord, NH October 17, 2018

Table of Contents

SEXUAL HARASSMENT 2018: THE CURRENT CLIMATE Attorney Julie A. Moore

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 I. "Off with Your Head!" - How Swift is Too Swift? ...................................................................... .4

A. Before the Investigation Begins ............................................................................................. 5 B. The Investigation .................................................................................................................. 7 C. The Pressure to Act Swiftly ................................................................................................... 9 D. Litigation Risk ..................................................................................................................... 11

II. "It Was Long Ago and Far Away" - Stale and Non-actionable Claims ....................................... 12 Ill. "It Is My Time and My Dime" - Off-duty Conduct. ................................................................... 16 IV. "But I Already Did That" - Reopening Closed Investigations .................................................... 17 V. "It Only Takes a Feather?" - Burden of Proof ............................................................................ 18 VI. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 20 PowerPoint Presentation ................................................................................................................. 22

PROVING THE ELEMENTS OF HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT; SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND FIRST CIRCUIT AND NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGAL UPDATE Attorney Heather M. Burns

Hostile Environment Law ................................................................................................................ 37 First Circuit Update ............................................................................................................ ............. 38

Maldonado-Cata/a v. Municipality of Naranjito, et al, No. 16-1637 (1st Cir. 11/21/17) ............ 38 Franchina v. City of Providence and Providence Fire, No. 16-2401 (1st Cir. 2018) .................. .44

New Hampshire Cases .................................................................................................................... 46 Sonya Leclair v. Donovan Spring Co., Inc., Rockingham County Superior Court, August 29, 2018 ....................................................................................................................... 46

WORKPLACE INVESTIGATION BASICS Attorney Deborah L. Maddux

I. The Requirement of a Defensible and Useable Report. . ............... . ............................................ 51 II. How Prompt is Prompt? ........................ .................................................................................... 53 Ill. Double Checking Impartiality ................................................................................................... 54 IV. The Road to Thorough - Process, Process, Process ................................................................... 55

A. Planning the Investigation ................................................................................................... 55 1. Create a Written Plan .................................................................................................... 55 2. Create a Plan Consistent with Your Practices and the Organization's Procedures ......... 55 3. Complaint Analysis ....................................................................................................... 59 4. Handling Scope Creep ........................................................ .......................................... 59 5. Understanding the Questions That Need to Be Answered ............................................ 60

5. Understanding the Questions That Need to Be Answered ............................................ 60 B. lnterviewing ........................................................................................................................ 61

1. Determining Who to Interview ..................................................................................... 61 2. Coordinating Witness Interviews .................................................................................. 62 3. Witness Admonitions .................................................................................................... 63 4. Introductory Remarks .................................................................................................... 64 5. Managing the Reluctant Witnesses ................................................................................ 65 6. Basic Interviewing Techniques ...................................................................................... 65 7. Credibility Assessments ................................................................................................ 66

C. The Report .......................................................................................................................... 66 V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 68 PowerPoint Presentation ................................................................................................................. 69

FARAGHER-ELLERTH AT TWENTY AND THE CHANGING FACE OF REASONABLENESS Attorney Marcie E. Vaughn

A. Applicability of the Affirmative Defense ................................................................................... 83 B. The Governing Principle of Reasonableness ............................................................................. 84

1. Employer's Duty of Reasonable Care to Prevent and Correct Harassment ........................... 85 2. Employee's Duty of Reasonable Care to Avoid Harm ......................................................... 86

C. The Evolving Principle of Reasonableness ................................................................................ 88 1. A Strong Reaction from the Third Circuit ............................................................................ 89 2. Guidance from the EEOC on Promising Practices to Encourage Reporting (i.e. Strategies

for Asserting or Defeating the Affirmative Defense) ............................................................ 91 · a. Promising Practices in Leadership and Accountability .................................................. 92

b. Promising Practices in Creating a Comprehensive and Effective Harassment Policy ..... 93 c. Promising Practices in Creating an Effective and Accessible Harassment Complaint

System .......................................................................................................................... 94 D. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 95

PLAINTIFF'S PERSPECTIVE: PRE-LITIGATION AND TRIAL Attorney Sean R. List Attorney Jason R.L. Major

Cowhig v. Megastore Case Overview ............................................................................................. 96 Appendix ........................................................................................................................................ 99

A. Sexual Harassment Complaint ............................................................................................ 99 B. Motion for Fees and Expenses Associated with Failure to Waive Service .......................... 112 C. First Set of Interrogatories and Requests for Production Regarding Employee

Numerosity Issue (with Answers) ...................................................................................... 118 D. Second Set of Interrogatories and Request for Production Regarding Employee

Numerosity Issue .............................................................................................................. 133 E. First Set of Interrogatories and Request for Production of Documents Propounded

Upon Individual Defendant .............................................................................................. 143 F. Second Set of Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents Propounded

Upon Individual Defendant .............................................................................................. 150 G. Plaintiff's December 5, 2017 Motion to Compel Discovery .............................................. 157 H. Plaintiff's January 26, 2018 Motion to Compel Discovery ................................................ 163

I. Stock Transfer Agreement ................................................................................................. 168 J. Excerpts of Deposition of Individual Defendant ................................................................ 169 K. Plaintiff's Memorandum of Law in Support of Objection to Summary Judgement.. ........... 190 L. Excerpts of Summary Judgement Hearing ......................................................................... 224 M. Order on Use of Secret Recordings ................................................................................... 233 N. State of New Hampshire's Declination to Intervene in Recording lssue ............................ 239 0. Motion In Limine to Admit Evidence of Prior Sexual Harassment Complaint.. .................. 243 P. Motion In Limine Regarding Collateral Sources of Income ............................................... 246 Q. Plaintiff's Request for Voir Dire ......................................................................................... 251 R. Plaintiff's Final Pretrial Statement ...................................................................................... 255 S. Final Jury Instructions ....................................................................................................... 2 66 T. Special Verdict Form ......................................................................................................... 284 U. Plaintiff's Petition for Post-Judgment Attachment .............................................................. 286

SELECTED ETHICAL ISSUES FOR EMPLOYMENT COUNSEL IN NEW HAMPSHIRE Attorney Mark T. BrothAttorney Emily Gray Rice

I. The ABA Proscribes Harassment and Discrimination in the Practice of Law ........................... 290 11. Communication with Prospective Witnesses .......................................................................... 29 5 111. Investigations Conducted by Lawyers ..................................................................................... 302