Opinion ID: 2708456
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: 2008 National Sales Meeting and Formal Warn‐

Text: ing By all accounts, the 2008 national sales meeting was eventful. At least twice, Lozen forcibly grabbed Hutt’s arm to stop her from leaving a room. Hutt also states that five or seven drunken male employees harassed and groped her, including one man who touched her face and leg, and burned her skirt with his cigarette, though she did not report this incident. Solvay counters that Hutt behaved inappropri‐ 4 No. 13‐1481 ately at the national sales meeting. At some point, Hutt locked a colleague out on a hotel patio as a practical joke. Two sales representatives informed Lozen that Hutt had stated that Lozen and Westfall had engaged in a homosexual relationship, that Hutt planned to get Lozen fired and sue Solvay to make money, and that she was soliciting collabora‐ tion from her colleagues to assist in her efforts. Unrelated to the national meeting, several other employees complained to Westfall and Lozen about Hutt’s unprofessional and inap‐ propriate behavior. Lozen received emails in which a sister company’s sales representatives alleged Hutt was providing too many samples to doctors, arriving late to lunches or can‐ celling appointments, scheduling appointments with physi‐ cians under the names of the other company’s sales repre‐ sentatives, and making unprofessional statements to cus‐ tomers. On April 28, 2008, Westfall and Lozen placed Hutt on a Formal Record of Warning and another PIP. They stated that Hutt had still not complied with all of the requirements of the March PIP because several reports were still uncomplet‐ ed, and that this highlighted her administrative deficiencies. They also cited her unprofessional conduct, her disruptive behavior at the Orlando conference, and her inappropriate behavior towards the sister company’s employees as reasons for her formal warning. The PIP required Hutt to submit her expenses and out‐of‐territory time on a set schedule. Sales representatives on formal or final written warning are ineli‐ gible for bonus compensation, according to Solvay’s incen‐ tive compensation general handbook. Hutt took a medical leave one week after being placed on formal warning; she was on leave for seven weeks, through No. 13‐1481 5 July 28. In response, Solvay extended the expiration date of Hutt’s warning to September 18, 2008, to ensure she served the full term of her formal warning.