Hansel v. Public Service Co. of Colorado, Civ. A. No. 88-B-853.

Decision Date11 December 1991
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 88-B-853.
PartiesVictoria Lynn HANSEL, Plaintiff, v. PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF COLORADO, Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Colorado

James A. Carleo, Colorado Springs, Colo., for plaintiff.

David W. Kerber, Salie B. O'Malley, Kelly, Stansfield & O'Donnell, Denver, Colo., for defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

BABCOCK, District Judge.

This Title VII action was tried to the court for four days beginning on November 15, 1991. Although plaintiff alleged both sexual harassment and disparate treatment, the case was tried principally on plaintiff's claim of sexual harassment. My findings and conclusions follow.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

Plaintiff Victoria Lynn Hansel (Hansel) lives in Pueblo, Colorado. She brought this action in June 1988 against Public Service Company of Colorado (PSC) alleging that defendant maintained and failed to correct a sexually hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000(e), et seq. Hansel had previously filed a similar complaint with the EEOC in December, 1987.

Hansel was hired in March, 1980 as an auxiliary tender in the operations department of the Comanche Power Plant in Pueblo, Colorado. The job of auxiliary tender is the entry level position in plant operations and requires employees to operate and maintain various machinery. The plant employs a total of 13 to 14 auxiliary tenders at any one time. It operates on three shifts a day and there are three auxiliary tenders assigned to each shift.

When Hansel was hired, there was only one other woman employed as an auxiliary tender and there were no women in higher job categories within the operations department. Because all the operations employees are required to work rotating shifts, Hansel was often the only woman working in the plant during her shift.

From 1980 to 1988, six other women were hired as auxiliary tenders at the plant. None of these women is still employed within the operations department at Comanche. Under prevailing union seniority rules, no woman, including Hansel, in the operations department at Comanche has ever progressed to the position of equipment operator, which is the next job level above auxiliary tender. Hansel satisfactorily performed her job throughout her employment at Comanche.

On Hansel's first day of work in 1980, Frank Roitsch, the plant manager for PSC, told her that "I can't begin to prepare you for what you're in for." Hansel took this to mean that Roitsch expected her to have problems because of her gender as she replied "I've worked around men my whole life." Roitsch did not then respond.

As with all new hires, Hansel was placed on a 120 day training and probation period. She satisfactorily completed her training, and on her 121st day, she was given her "white helmet." On that day, one of her male co-workers hit her over the head with a crescent wrench with such force that Hansel's helmet was dented. He told her that this was her "initiation." New employees were often subjected to this initiation. However, their helmets were not on their heads when the helmet was struck.

After Hansel's probation, her co-workers began a continuous and concerted campaign of sexual harassment and discrimination intended to force her out of plant operations, previously an all-male environment. The campaign, though continuous, manifested itself in two phases: 1980 to May, 1983 and June, 1983 to June, 1988, when she filed this action. The incidents chronicled below took place between the end of Hansel's probation and May 10, 1983. Because of the lapse of time, plaintiff could not provide precise dates.

When Hansel asked a co-worker a job-related question, he replied to her "I have something you want, you have something I want."

When Hansel was working by herself, a co-worker had hidden himself in the shadows above and behind her. He dropped a large bolt that nearly hit her head.

Hansel was slapped on her buttocks on more than 10 occasions by more than five different co-workers. This conduct often occurred in front of other workers, who laughed at Hansel's attempts to stop this conduct.

On at least three occasions, different co-workers grabbed and fondled Hansel's breasts. On one of these occasions, Hansel's arms were held while another co-worker assaulted her.

When Hansel came into work one day with an Ace bandage on her wrist, she was greeted with the comment "Out fucking dogs all night and one bit you." This comment was made in the break room, in front of several co-workers.

After accepting a ride from two co-workers, Hansel was held down by one in the front seat of the car while the other sexually assaulted her by fondling her genitals.

While her car was parked in the employee parking lot, Hansel's windshield was broken twice and a side window broken once. She often found "spit" on her windshield.

Hansel's work gloves were a focus of this harassment. Once, they were filled with bathroom cleaner. Another time, they were filled with sunflower seed shells. At yet another time, her gloves were filled with lime powder. The employee who filled her gloves with bathroom cleaner later apologized and bought Hansel a new pair of gloves.

Hansel came out of a stall in the ladies room one day to find a male co-worker in the bathroom holding a hangman's noose. He told her it would be better if she just killed herself.

At another time, two male co-workers came into the ladies room and asked Hansel if she needed any help.

One day, Hansel came back to the desk used by auxiliary tenders to find one of her used tampax placed over the nozzle of a spray bottle.

There was sexually explicit graffiti throughout the plant, some of which was explicitly directed at Hansel.

Generally, Hansel was continually insulted and made to feel "stupid" by her co-workers.

Hansel did not report the majority of these incidents to her supervisors. However, she reported the broken windshields and one incident concerning her gloves. Hansel felt that if she reported the harassment it would only get worse. She thought that if she kept quiet her co-workers would eventually accept her and the harassment would stop.

The harassment severely affected Hansel's work and personal life. She was afraid to ask job-related questions. She found it hard to concentrate on her tasks. She felt continually fearful and threatened at work. She never knew when the next incident would occur. She even considered suicide during this period.

During her annual performance review in 1982, Hansel told her supervisor, Mr. North, that she was having problems with sexual harassment. However, she refused to provide him with names and specific details, fearing retaliation. North told her that nothing could be done unless she came forward with that information. He also told her to "work on your peer relations" and to try to "fit in better."

Again at her performance review in January, 1983 with her supervisor, Walt O'Hara, she complained of sexual harassment, but refused to provide him with names and specific details. Hansel felt that she would lose her job if she provided this information. At this meeting, Hansel became hysterical and was hospitalized later that day for a nervous breakdown. She returned to work a month later, where she was then ridiculed as a "mental case", despite management's promise to keep the nature of her hospitalization confidential.

After talking with her union representative, Hansel requested a meeting with plant management to file charges of sexual harassment. At that meeting on May 10, 1983, Hansel identified six co-workers and set out the specifics of many of the incidents detailed above.

In response to Hansel's charges, Roitsch and other management at the plant discussed the allegations with four of the six workers identified by Hansel. These men denied her charges and were never formally disciplined. In notes dated May 12, 1983, Roitsch indicated that he would discuss sexual harassment generally with his supervisors, although it is unclear whether this discussion ever took place. In those notes, Roitsch listed four ways for Hansel to respond to the sexual harassment:

1. Get help from Supv. Supt. or Manager immediately
2. Thin skinned about words
3. Tries too hard to be liked
4. Develop coping techniques
a. replies
b. belt knife or 10" crescent
c. Other gals discuss — support group

PSC took no other remedial action in 1983.

The sexual harassment did not end after Hansel filed these charges. The overt, physical harassment declined, but the hostile and abusive work environment continued, manifesting itself in different ways.

After the May 10 meeting, Hansel was told by one co-worker that she had "really screwed up" and that from then on it would be "total isolation." During the next year, Hansel was shunned and ostracized by her co-workers.

After 1983, the sexually explicit graffiti at the plant intensified. Much of this graffiti was directed at Hansel by name. For example, one graffiti read "V.H. sucks all cocks." Another said "Dog Face Hansel." Yet another depicted the lower half of a female body with the words "Shot cunt V.H." written over it and "Sweet Lips" written underneath. Plant management knew of the graffiti, and, although some of it was removed by management, much of it remained on the walls at the plant for months and even years. The sexually explicit graffiti was prevalent throughout the period of Hansel's active employment at the plant.

There were also pornographic and sexually explicit magazines, pin-ups, and calendars at the plant. On at least two occasions, this material was left where Hansel would find it. This kind of material was prevalent throughout the plant from 1980 until 1988-89.

After 1983, cartoons began appearing on the bulletin boards disparaging Hansel. For example, a sign posted in the control room in the summer of 1987 read: "SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THIS AREA WILL NOT BE REPORTED...

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