CLEVELAND, OHIO — Shari Hutchinson of Ohio, civil rights attorneys Avery Friedman and Elizabeth Wells, and Tico Almeida of the national organization Freedom to Work, held a press conference today at the City Club of Cleveland to announce a $100,000 settlement on behalf of Shari Hutchinson, who was repeatedly denied promotions and discriminated against because of her sexual orientation while working for the Child Support Enforcement Agency for Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
Shari Hutchinson said: "On my first day working for the County, I was given the Policies Manual and I was so thrilled to see that discrimination due to sexual orientation would not be tolerated. But after continuously losing promotions when I had scored the highest on the County's qualifying exam, and watching the jobs go instead to people who had failed the tests or had not even completed the application, I learned there was a glass ceiling for a lesbian woman like me. I am grateful that the Judge ruled twice in my favor and that my attorneys negotiated such a strong settlement. I am also proud to partner with Freedom to Work to tell my story and educate the public about the need for a federal law to finally outlaw this kind of unfair treatment."
Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, said: "It is shameful that the County's attorneys argued that gays and lesbians do not share the same constitutional protections as all other Americans. These lawyers tried to exclude gays and lesbians from the 'We' in 'We the People,' but thankfully the Judge would not allow it. Shari's victory is important in legal terms, and also because she has committed to advocating for a federal law to finally ban workplace discrimination against all LGBT Americans. We are proud to welcome her as a founding member of Freedom to Work's Speakers Bureau."
Elizabeth Wells, counsel for Ms. Hutchinson, said: "The County's non-discrimination policy means nothing if it allowed to be ignored by those, like Shari's supervisors, who should be enforcing it. Here, Shari was fortunate that Judge Gwin ruled she was entitled to equal rights under the Constitution, giving meaning to the County policy. With this settlement Shari no longer has to suffer in a hostile work environment on account of her sexual orientation."
Shari Hutchinson was hired in 2003 as a Support Officer in the Child Support Enforcement Agency for Cuyahoga County, Ohio. She holds an Executive Masters of Business Administration degree and she had almost twenty years of private sector management experience prior to working for the Agency and was eager to move up the career ladder. However, after her co-workers and managers learned that Shari is lesbian, they spread false rumors about her and repeatedly passed her over for promotions that went to significantly less qualified applicants, including heterosexual candidates who did not even pass the required tests or comply with the Agency's application procedures. Therefore, Shari filed a federal lawsuit contending that Cuyahoga County's discrimination violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Neither Ohio law nor federal law bans workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.
In response, the County's attorneys submitted papers contending that gays and lesbians do not fall under the protections of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Honorable James S. Gwin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio rejected the County's argument, criticizing the County attorneys for arguing that "all of Hutchinson's claims must fail because sexual orientation is not a protected class, and thus does not merit the constitutional protection, under the Equal Protection Clause, that Hutchinson seeks." Judge Gwin allowed Hutchinson's case to go forward, and the settlement was reached on the eve of trial.
Additional background information on facts of Hutchinson v. Cuyahoga County:
When Shari joined the Agency, she was immediately open to others about her sexual orientation. Shortly after her first day of work, she brought her domestic partner, Diane, in to the office to meet her co-workers and supervisor. She introduced Diane as her "partner." She also placed a picture of Diane on her desk, and listed Diane as her emergency contact on Agency forms and stated that her relationship was "partner" or "domestic partner."
Unfortunately, one of the Agency's managers began to gossip about Shari's sexual orientation, and he spread a false rumor that she "writes for a lesbian porno magazine." The manager's false rumor spread throughout the workplace, and soon thereafter the Agency began to treat Shari differently than her straight co-workers. In order to stunt her advancement, her supervisors failed to give Shari an annual review for over five years. Moreover, throughout the course of her career with the Agency, Shari has been denied for more than a dozen advancement opportunities, even though she was often the most qualified candidate.
For example, in 2008, Shari applied for a promotion to Support Enforcement Manager. The Agency required applicants to take a standardized test and to submit a writing sample by a certain date. The Agency explicitly warned the applicants: "Candidates who do not return the writing sample or do not return the writing sample within the required time frame will not be invited to interview."
On the standardized test, Shari scored 29 out of 30 points, the highest score of all applicants. She also submitted her writing sample in a timely manner, unlike the straight male employee who failed to submit his writing sample by the deadline but nevertheless won the position. When the Agency realized that this preferred heterosexual candidate had not complied with the application procedures, the managers took drastic steps to ensure that he would get the promotion instead of Shari. The Agency unexpectedly suspended the application process without stating a valid reason and then suspiciously initiated a "new" process for the exact same promotion only two weeks later. During the second application process, the heterosexual male applicant submitted his writing sample on time and won the promotion, even though Shari had scored higher than him on the standardized test.
Freedom to Work is a national organization committed to a simple idea: all Americans deserve the freedom to build a successful career without fear of harassment or discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. For more information, visit: www.freedomtowork.org
