Litigating Sexual Harassment and
Sex Discrimination Cases

by Elizabeth Hubbard

Step-by-Step Guidance for Sexual Harassment Litigation

Sexual harassment litigation frequently combines high stakes with challenging facts. Settlements and awards can be large, but witnesses rarely exist, sensitive personal issues can surface, differing federal and state laws regularly overlap, and on-the-spot advice is frequently required. Careful and effective advocacy is essential to success.

Affordable help is available. Elizabeth Hubbard’s Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases leads you step-by-step through problem areas like these:

• Sidestepping statute of limitations traps
• Assessing client’s claims and injuries
• Avoiding removal to federal court
• Opposing summary judgment motions
• Deposing harassers
• Deposing and examining experts
• Proving “he-said, she-said” cases
• Admitting and excluding sensitive evidence

Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases is loaded with useful forms, charts, and checklists that will save you drafting time and help you avoid costly mistakes. You receive sample pleadings, client intake checklists, deposition questions, workplace prevention policies, and much more. Each form is provided in easily removable, full-page format, and on the free companion forms CD.

Forms include:

• Demand letter
• Federal and state complaints
• Petition for removal
• Damages information sheet
• Stipulation for medical/psychological exam
• Motion for FRCP 35 exam
• Discovery plan
• Stipulated protective order re confidential documents
• Plaintiff and defense requests for production
• Answer
• Plaintiff and defense interrogatories
• Motions in limine
• Proposed voir dire
• Jury instructions

Helpful Tips

• “A related and developing area of the law involves the employer’s liability for sexual favoritism. The EEOC Guidelines on this issue provide that.…” p. 16

• “Retaliatory acts by an employer’s management personnel can form the basis for a number of tort claims, e.g.…” p. 35

• To assess the reasonableness of your prospective client’s expectations, ask “If we can get your job back, with any back pay, and have the harasser fired or transferred, would that be enough for you?” p. 75

• “Be very cautious about cases where the client acknowledges participating in the very conduct of which she now complains. Derrico v. Pinkerton’s Inc., ….” p. 86

• “Consider drafting the complaint and sending it to the employer along with your letter and deadline date to be contacted. It will at least insure that the issue goes up a few notches in the hierarchy.” p. 93

• “If you plan to name any individual defendants in the civil complaint, you should also name those persons in the administrative charge. Failure to name a defendant in the administrative complaint may result in….” p. 97

• “Damages on a defamation claim may be based on elements other than injury to reputation, such as….” p. 111

• 3 reasons why you should consider stipulating to a Rule 35 examination. p. 124

• “Take precautions to insure that your client is not exposed to unreasonable intrusions into her or his privacy during a mental examination. For example, you may want to stipulate that your client will not be administered.…” p. 125

• “The MMPI , which is frequently given by psychologists, contains 566 true/false questions, many of which are objectionable as violative of your client’s right to privacy. See Soroka v. Dayton Hudson Corp. ….” p. 125

• 11 questions to ask every expert in a sexual harassment case. p. 142

• Remember when deciding whether to depose the examining doctor that the plaintiff waives any privilege she or he may have regarding the testimony of “every other person who has examined the [plaintiff] ….” FRCP 35(b)(2). p. 147

• 6 grounds for opposing motions for summary judgment, with supporting authority. p. 150

• 13 situations in sexual harassment cases when you should bring a motion in limine, with citations. p. 154

Gain complete control of your litigation work-up with Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases’ one-stop task outline approach.

The book’s distinct format combines the benefits of an in-depth treatise—including over 600 pages of insightful practice tips, up-to-date citations, and helpful forms—with a step-by-step “how to do it” outline. Each task is set up in a recognizable 4-step format that clearly explains the “what, why, when, and how” of litigating sexual harassment and sex discrimination cases, making this the only resource you will need on the subject.

You also receive hundreds of tactical practice notes culled from the authors’ years of experience litigating employment cases. Let these insightful suggestions help you plan effective strategies and anticipate your opponent’s moves.

The net result of the book’s powerful new format is a user-friendly, practice-oriented resource that will guide you through the complexities of state and federal employment litigation.

Updated annually.  ISBN 0-938065-99-8.  Book price: $99.00

Reviews

"The book is packed with valuable information. Clearly, an enormous amount of effort went into this work. The opening sections on substantive law keenly analyze the various theories of sex harassment — quid pro quo, retaliation, and hostile environment — with detailed descriptions of leading cases counsel should be acquainted with when venturing into this area. ... Leal’s book will prove most useful to lawyers who have recently entered this area of practice. It is pitched at an elementary level but is comprehensive and thorough, moving along in small steps. It would make a useful addition to the library of any attorney just getting started."

Excerpted from TRIAL Magazine, July, 1997.

"Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases combines the scholarship of a treatise with the practical insights one would expect to gain from a CLE program. The book is packed with valuable information for both plaintiff and defendant. ... The book is arranged in James’ popular "task outline" format. ... One of the great strengths of the "task outline" books is that they provide not only the "what," but also the "why," so that the practitioner can counsel the client on the costs and benefits of each step in the legal process. In this tradition, Litigating Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination Cases contains an impressive collection of practical tips and insights that will assist you in guiding your client through the oftentimes-bewildering process of litigation."

Excerpted from the Florida Bar News, November, 1997.

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Age Discrimination Litigation

Federal Employment Jury Instructions

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