Opinion ID: 78425
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Physical Contact

Text: Corbitt and Raya stated that they were subjected to unwanted physical touchings by Cavaluzzi. Around the fourth week of March, there was a round table Home Depot meeting at the Hampton Inn in Pensacola of all store managers and human resources managers in the district. Store human resources manager Donna Calhoun saw Cavaluzzi touch both Corbitt and Raya, going from one to the other. Cavaluzzi walked into the room and massaged their necks and shoulders, made comments about their hair, played with their hair, and hugged Corbitt and Raya in front of the store managers and human resources managers of the district. Both men moved away from Cavaluzzi. According to Corbitt, McLaughlin and others observed this incident. That evening, Cavaluzzi called Corbitt at home and asked Corbitt to bring assistant manager files to Cavaluzzi at the Pensacola Home Depot. When Corbitt pulled into the parking lot, Cavaluzzi reached into Corbitt's car and began massaging Corbitt's neck and shoulders. Cavaluzzi invited Corbitt to join him at his hotel for a couple of drinks. Corbitt refused. Cavaluzzi's behavior offended and humiliated Corbitt, but he acquiesced because Cavaluzzi was his boss, and Cavaluzzi had a reputation for being vindictive. Corbitt did not feel that he had to specifically tell Cavaluzzi to stop touching him because Cavaluzzi was his superior and should have known that this was wrong. Around the same time, Raya was in the training room at the Daphne, Alabama store seated at a table with another employee, when Cavaluzzi came into the room. Cavaluzzi sat down next to Raya, put his arm on Raya's shoulder like [Cavaluzzi] was [Raya's] best friend in the world and put his hand on Raya's thigh under the table. Raya moved his chair away from Cavaluzzi and stood up. Cavaluzzi then stood for a few seconds and stated, I just wanted to let you know I'm here and walked out of the room. Within a month after this incident, Raya attended a training meeting at the Pensacola Hampton Inn. In front of nine or ten store managers, Cavaluzzi came up behind Raya and began running his fingers through Raya's hair. In June, Home Depot held a grand opening at the new Pensacola store, at which Raya made a presentation in front of approximately 200 contractors. After completing his speech, as Raya walked down from the podium, McLaughlin extended his hand to congratulate Raya. Before Raya could shake McLaughlin's hand, Cavaluzzi moved in front of McLaughlin and told Raya that he was proud of him. Cavaluzzi then gave Raya a hug and massaged Raya's back. Raya testified that Cavaluzzi pressed his whole body against Raya, such that Cavaluzzi's body was touching Raya's privates during the hug. In August, Corbitt was working alone in the training room of the Montlimar store when Cavaluzzi snuck up behind him, put one of his hands on Corbitt's shoulder, and rubbed Corbitt's stomach with the other. Corbitt pulled away. At an August meeting, Cavaluzzi massaged Raya's neck and shoulders while commenting that Raya was in good shape and felt muscular and trim. He complimented Raya's physical build and asked Raya if he worked out. Raya walked out. This was the last physical contact between Cavaluzzi and Raya. At a November meeting, when Corbitt entered the room, he stuck out his hand to shake hands with Cavaluzzi, but Cavaluzzi pushed Corbitt's hand to the side and instead gave Corbitt a hug. Before Corbitt could pull away, Cavaluzzi started rubbing Corbitt's back, neck, head, and shoulders. When Corbitt pulled away from Cavaluzzi, Cavaluzzi asked, How are you doing? Corbitt responded that he was cold, and Cavaluzzi said, Maybe we should cuddle later. This was the last physical contact between Cavaluzzi and Corbitt.