Court upholds sexual-harassment verdict against Watertown car dealership

The Supreme Judicial Court today rejected Lexus of Watertown's claim that a jury was wrong to award a female manager a settlement in a sexual-harassment suit because there was no evidence her work output suffered during months of unwanted, sexually explicit remarks and actions by her supervisor.

In a ruling today, the state's highest court said Emma Gyulakian more than adequately proved she was working for a man who refused to take no for an answer - and that his bosses knew about it but did nothing to stop him - over an 18-month period in which he often commented on her "nipples," "boobs" and "ass," touched her and asked her when they'd sleep together so he could get a good look at her breasts. The court noted:

Testimony at trial tended to show that members of senior management were aware of the sexually hostile or offensive work environment at the organization. By way of example, O'Connell (the Lexus general sales manager) witnessed Ferreira attempt to throw coins down Gyulakian's blouse; Gyulakian testified that she complained on several occasions to Bruno (the assistant general sales manager) concerning Ferreira's conduct; and Silvester, the former Lexus office manager, heard Ferreira discussing anal sex in the office.

Because of this, the court said the judge in the case was wrong to simply dismiss $500,000 in punitive damages - on top of $40,000 in actual damages - awarded by the jury without a hearing. The court sent the case back to the lower-court judge for a hearing to determine whether the the punitive-damage award was just or should be reduced.