Opinion ID: 787947
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Hostile Work Environment

Text: 3 Petrosino asserts that throughout her employment at Bell Atlantic's Edgewater Garage, she was subjected to a work environment hostile to women. The hostility took two forms: (1) persistent sexually offensive remarks and sexual graffiti that conveyed a low regard for women, and (2) specific comments or actions toward Petrosino that made plain that this negative view of women extended to her and to her work performance.
4 Petrosino has adduced evidence demonstrating that the work environment at the Edgewater Garage was more reminiscent of a locker room than a place of business. 2 Profanity was commonplace, and crude humor was routine. But the focus of Petrosino's complaint is not on this conduct but on the sexually demeaning conversations that were also an accepted part of the daily work environment. Although male co-workers often insulted each other in these exchanges, the substance of their remarks always conveyed a profound disrespect for women. 3 Further, when working outdoors, Petrosino would constantly confront crude sexual graffiti scrawled by co-workers inside terminal boxes. Among the images depicted were headless women with their legs in the air, women's legs wide open, men with their penises out, and men having sex with animals. A further theme of the graffiti was that Bell Atlantic employees (male and female) performed sex acts on supervisors to advance their careers. 5
6 Petrosino's co-workers made plain that she was not exempted from the generally low view of women communicated by the sexually offensive garage banter and terminal-box graffiti. A few months after she began working at Bell Atlantic, at a December 1990 Christmas party, Petrosino was physically attacked from behind in a parking lot by co-worker Charles Degenhardt, who groped and kissed her. When Petrosino shouted for help, other employees pulled Degenhardt away, but for months thereafter, the incident was a big joke at the garage and the subject of terminal-box graffiti. Petrosino Dep., July 20, 2001 (hereinafter Petrosino Dep. III), at 35. 4 In the ensuing years, frequent disparaging remarks were made with reference to Petrosino's ass, her tits, her menstrual cycle, her weight, and her eating habits, and at least one terminal-box drawing depicted her performing a sex act on a supervisor. Further, the disparagement was not limited to private exchanges, but extended to supervisors' comments relating to her job performance. 7 For example, Petrosino's direct supervisor from 1990 to 1992, Robert Sharib, punctuated his conversations with her with hostile gender-based comments, referring to Petrosino as a damn woman, Petrosino Dep., Mar. 15, 2000 (hereinafter Petrosino Dep. I), at 278, telling her to calm her big tits down, Petrosino Aff. ¶ 18, and dismissing her job concerns as attributable to her menstrual cycle, see id. (He accused me several times of being `on the rag' ... whenever I had a dispute with him....). On one occasion, Sharib humiliated Petrosino by taking a doctor's note that she had brought to work, enlarging it to poster size, and displaying it in the office. 8 Petrosino also points to gender-hostile remarks by Tom Archdecon, her second — and third-level manager throughout her employment at Bell Atlantic. In discussions with Petrosino about her work, Archdecon not only told her that as an individual, she was too thin-skinned to belong in her work assignment, he cast this observation all the time in gender-wide terms, stating that women as a group were too simple, too sensitive, and too damn thin-skinned to work at the garage. Petrosino Dep. I, at 277-79. Over the years, several first-level managers told Petrosino that she would never be permitted to assume managerial responsibilities as long as Archdecon was an I & R supervisor. See infra at [11-12]. 9 Archdecon's gender hostility toward Petrosino was echoed by Frank Mangiero, Petrosino's direct supervisor from 1996 to 1997. On many occasions, he called her a damn woman and told her that if she could not handle working in I & R, maybe women can't handle it. Petrosino Dep. II, at 502. In front of Petrosino's male co-workers, he also linked her work deportment to her menstrual cycle, telling her: Don't give me a hard time just because you're on the rag. Petrosino Dep. III, at 40. Mangiero repeatedly cited Petrosino for minor job infractions, such as using a company vehicle to get coffee for another supervisor and playing her truck radio too loudly, without similarly reporting male employees. He made her repeat tasks unnecessarily. On one occasion, he refused Petrosino's request to use a bucket truck to perform an assignment safely, only to allow a male worker to use the truck when the task was reassigned to him.
10 Petrosino asserts that throughout her employment she complained informally and formally about the gender-hostile environment at the Edgewater Garage. For example, she repeatedly told co-workers and supervisors that she found the constant sexual banter at the garage offensive and demeaning, but no steps were ever taken to address the problem. To the contrary, offending workers ridiculed her concerns by offering sarcastic apologies, only to persist thereafter in their vulgar exchanges. 11 In 1992, Petrosino filed a labor grievance charging Robert Sharib with harassment. 5 Although she prevailed, she asserts no actual discipline was imposed. Instead, Sharib and Petrosino were sent to a seminar to help them work out their differences. When Petrosino attempted to use the opportunity to voice her concerns, Sharib told her: Just keep your mouth shut and do what I tell you. Petrosino Dep. I, at 206. Petrosino complained about this comment to a senior manager, who offered to transfer her to Brooklyn, and assured her she would have no further problems. Soon after Petrosino declined the transfer offer, Sharib scolded her for going over his head and warned her never to do that again. He then relieved her of responsibilities that would have prepared her for a future management position. 6 12 Sometime in 1997 or 1998, a female administrative manager asked Petrosino why she no longer worked overtime. Petrosino explained that she avoided overtime to stay away from her then-supervisor, Mangiero, who harrasse[d her] and bother[ed her]. Petrosino Dep. III, at 70-71. Petrosino asserts that no one at Bell Atlantic pursued the matter. Some months later, in May 1997, Petrosino called Bell Atlantic's Ethics Hotline to complain formally that Mangiero harassed her because she was the only female in his group. Petrosino's request to discuss her concerns with a female counselor were rebuffed, and no one from Bell Atlantic ever followed up on this complaint. 7