That was my first thought after reading Griffin v. Copper Cellar Corp.
Rose Griffin worked as a cook at a Tennessee restaurant. According to the 6th Circuit, one coworker repeatedly grabbed her breasts, arranged food at her workstation to look like an ejaculating penis, told her he wanted to have sex with her, pushed her down onto a prep station while thrusting against her, and stuck his hands down his pants while massaging himself in front of her.
This was not subtle workplace misconduct. It was repeated, physical sexual harassment.
And when Griffin complained? A supervisor allegedly told her to "keep [her] head down and [her] mouth shut." Managers allegedly laughed about the harassment. The damage to Griffin was severe. She testified that she felt humiliated and violated, suffered nightmares, lost sleep and appetite, experienced chest tightness and muscle spasms, and even contemplated suicide.
A jury found for Griffin on her hostile-work-environment claim and awarded her $179,000 in compensatory damages. The district court later awarded another $480,364.50 in attorneys' fees.
Copper Cellar appealed. The 6th Circuit affirmed everything.
So let's do the math. Copper Cellar now owes more than $659,000, before interest and costs, plus whatever it paid its own lawyers to defend the case through trial, post-trial motions, and appeal. All after reportedly offering just $25,000 to settle the case before trial.
Sometimes, the smartest litigation strategy is knowing when you have a losing hand.
Employers hate paying settlements. I understand why. No company wants to reward litigation or admit wrongdoing.
But litigation is not about pride. It is about risk.
And when your risk includes a jury hearing evidence that a female employee was groped, sexually humiliated, ignored by management, and pushed into suicidal thoughts, you do not roll the dice unless you've exhausted all options.
This employer chose to roll the dice. And it lost badly.
The lesson is not merely "don't sexually harass employees." That should be obvious.
The real lesson is that when the facts are this bad, listen to your lawyer when they tell you it is time to settle.
Because juries do not like employers that tolerate this kind of conduct. And appellate courts are not going to rescue you from the consequences.