The jury decided Jim Tobin, Secretary Treasurer of Teamster Local 150 in Sacramento was guilty of sexual harassment but sadly for plaintiff Lisa Beauchamp the statue of limitations has expired for awarding monetary damages. Beauchamp, a clerical worker for local 150, accused Tobin of sexual harassment and running a work environment hostile to female employees who weren’t “party girls.” Ms. Beauchamp testified that she was subjected to offensive and sexually charged commentary almost from her first day working for Tobin in 2003 and that more than once he deliberately rubbed into her in a sexual fashion. Her attorney also grilled witnesses on lap sits, hugs and rubdowns that Tobin received as part of a “culture of party girls” in the office, while his staff of business agents and executive board members came back drunk from lunch and emailed porn sites to one another. Meanwhile, Tobin’s defense is charging that Beauchamp is only a “stalking horse” for a union faction that wants to unseat Tobin in an upcoming election. Tobin’s attorney also stated that Beauchamp has “misinterpreted some harmless fun the labor leader maintained with some of his staff.” (A review of case law surrounding Title VII might be in order for both Tobin and his attorney.) In denying Beauchamp damages, the jury ruled that while there was photographic evidence against Tobin of a hostile workplace prior to March 2008, past that date it was Tobin’s word against Beauchamp. Tobin said he was “happy about myself being cleared,” even if it came on the statute-of-limitations technicality.
