Male UPS Worker Called Out Sexism At Work, Awarded $500,000

[cheryl]

Male UPS Worker Called Out Sexism At Work, Awarded $500,000

Typically, under workplace discrimination law, it's the target of gross remarks who files a lawsuit. But United Parcel Service manager Michael Battaglia, 56, was disturbed by the lewd remarks another male employee made about women, so complained, repeatedly. Battaglia also complained that managers were misusing corporate credit cards. He was subsequently demoted, and then sued for retaliation. On Wednesday, the court unanimously sided with Battaglia, and awarded him half a million dollars for economic damages. He could get even more. Damages for emotional distress are to be decided by a jury.

 

[InsideUPS]

Male UPS Worker Called Out Sexism At Work, Awarded $500,000

Typically, under workplace discrimination law, it's the target of gross remarks who files a lawsuit. But United Parcel Service manager Michael Battaglia, 56, was disturbed by the lewd remarks another male employee made about women, so complained, repeatedly. Battaglia also complained that managers were misusing corporate credit cards. He was subsequently demoted, and then sued for retaliation. On Wednesday, the court unanimously sided with Battaglia, and awarded him half a million dollars for economic damages. He could get even more. Damages for emotional distress are to be decided by a jury.

Did UPS really have a chance considering?:

The Supreme Court ultimately granted Battaglia the more expansive interpretation of the law, and reaffirmed the $500,000 in economic damages, with damages for emotional distress to be decided by a jury.

"These were not the occasional words of a low-level employee having a bad day," Justice Helen Hoenswrote in a 55-page opinion, "but were the words of a supervisor, uttered in meetings with managerial employees, both repeatedly and routinely.

Also, why would Battaglia write an anonymous letter to corporate? While I certainly have no "love" for UPS Corporate, I believe a signed letter would have received more attention (FWIW...I have always signed mine).

"Battaglia, who's now been with UPS for 28 years, says he complained to DeCraine and other managers, but received no response. So he wrote an anonymous letter to the corporate office, complaining of that, as well as credit card abuse and other actions that he thought violated company policies."

On a personal note, I will say that I have not been overly thrilled with the responses I have had from UPS Corporate over the years. Corporate relies on the District management (HR) to conduct the investigations which are often "friends" of those that you may be have "issues" with. The investigation goes far enough to CYA and then proceeds back up the corporate chain (District - Region - Corporate) where it is neatly tucked away. Perhaps this incident will change "Business as Usual" in the Corporate offices of Atlanta.

 

[Catatonic]

Picture would have been much better if the photographer had exposed for the outside light and used some flash.

​That's just a bad picture!

​

 

[cheeks]

"Corporate relies on the District management (HR) to conduct the investigations which are often "friends" of those that you may be have "issues" with. The investigation goes far enough to CYA and then proceeds back up the corporate chain (District - Region - Corporate) where it is neatly tucked away. Perhaps this incident will change "Business as Usual" in the Corporate offices of Atlanta."
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif] You can that again for sure. We brought a sexual harassment accusation to the attention of HR absolutely nothing became of it. Later center manager was transferred to different center to be someone else's problem. [/FONT]