Opinion ID: 2976348
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Cherri Hill

Text: Hill began working at the brewery in August of 1999. In January of 2000, she started working on line 75 with Robinson. She alleges that Robinson began harassing her in November of 2000. In her deposition, Hill recounted numerous instances of touching—stating that Robinson touched her arms, rubbed her shoulders, and walked up close behind her—and that he regularly made “lewd and explicit” comments. When Hill asked Robinson to stop, he said that he knew she “liked it” and that he “wanted to have sex” with her. Hill stated that Robinson would walk close to her, touch her behind, and that on one occasion he rubbed against her with “his private area” and grabbed her around the waist. She also said that on three or four occasions Robinson told her “she had big breasts” and a “big butt.” On another occasion, Robinson told her “he wanted to fuck” her and said, “I bet you have some good pussy and I know that you would like this. You should let me take you away from your boyfriend.” In addition to recalling theses specific incidents, Hill testified that Robinson made lewd and sexual comments “all the time.” Hill told a coworker in November of 2000 that Robinson was bothering her. She also contacted Schoenian, her union steward, to complain about Robinson’s conduct. Hill then asked her supervisor, Don Schlarman, if she could transfer lines after telling him that Robinson “had been touching her and talking dirty to her.” Donald Manley, the brewery’s human resources manager, was informed of Hill’s complaint and ordered Cortlin Davidson, a human resources investigator and assistant manager, to look into Hill’s allegations. No. 07-3235 Hawkins et al. v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Page 4 Davidson began his investigation by interviewing Hill. During the interview, Hill enumerated the ways in which Robinson had harassed her and informed Davidson that Robinson had also harassed Cunningham. Davidson’s notes from his interview with Hill recount that Hill complained that Robinson had been grabbing her, rubbing up against her, making suggestive sexual remarks, and that “every time” they were together Robinson was doing something inappropriate “like winking, blowing kisses, touching her or grabbing her.” On December 9, 2000, a few weeks after Hill reported the allegations of harassment, but before the brewery had finished its investigation, someone set fire to Hill’s car while it was parked at her home. Although Hill believed that Robinson was responsible for the fire, no arrests related to the fire were made. Hill informed the fire investigators about her suspicions and reported the incident to both Davidson and Schlarman. Davidson did not investigate the incident, and instead told Hill that if she did not have any proof of Robinson’s involvement, she should not make allegations against him. Schlarman told Hill that she could be sued for slander for accusing Robinson. Nothing in the record suggests that the brewery took any steps to investigate Hill’s allegation that Robinson set fire to her car. At some point during December of 2000, however, the brewery transferred Hill to a different line. Davidson interviewed Robinson as part of his investigation into Hill’s original allegations of harassment. When Robinson was informed of Hill’s complaint, he denied harassing her. Robinson was apparently never asked about the fire. On December 4, 2000, Davidson spoke with Cunningham to follow up on Hill’s allegations of harassment. At first, Cunningham said that she did not want to “get involved” in the investigation, but she eventually confirmed that Robinson had sexually harassed her. Cunningham told Davidson that Robinson was “always doing something” and that he was “always rubbing her back and touching her and she got sick of telling him to stop.” Davidson interviewed a total of 10 employees who worked on line 75. None of the employees on the line, including Cunningham, admitted to witnessing Robinson harass Hill. Schoenian, however, confirmed that Hill had reported the harassment to her on two occasions. Hill had also told another employee, Brandi Lawry, that Robinson made Hill “feel uncomfortable,” and Lawry reported this to Davidson. At the end of his report, Davidson concluded: “Based on the interviews conducted, I believe that Bill Robinson did behave in a sexually inappropriate manner with both Cherri Hill and Jackie Cunningham.” Despite the report’s conclusion, the brewery did not discipline Robinson. The investigation was closed, and Hill received a letter informing her that Anheuser-Busch had been unable to substantiate her allegations of harassment, that corporate policy prohibited retaliation for raising such concerns, and that she could contact management if she had any questions. Nothing in the record indicates whether the brewery spoke with Robinson at the close of the investigation, and there is no evidence showing that a letter was ever sent to him. After Davidson gave his report to management, Cunningham was called into plant manager Dan Brown’s office for a second interview and asked if Robinson had sexually harassed her. Cunningham responded “no” and left the room. During her deposition, Cunningham was asked why she had recanted her allegations of harassment. Cunningham responded that she was afraid of Robinson because of stories that she had heard about him and that she feared he would “come back to get her.” The record is unclear about whether the interview with Cunningham took place before or after Hill’s car was set on fire. Following the close of its investigation into Hill’s allegations in December of 2000, Anheuser-Busch corporate headquarters received an anonymous letter criticizing the investigation into Hill’s allegations and stating that “fellow employees on the line are intimidated from telling the truth because they are well aware of what [Robinson] is capable.” The letter alleged that the No. 07-3235 Hawkins et al. v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Page 5 brewery had botched the investigation by failing to interview everyone on the line who knew about the harassment and declared that employees were “afraid to get involved” in the investigation because “bad things” happened to women who made accusations against Robinson. It recounted specific allegations of violence against women at the brewery, noting that Hill’s car had been set on fire shortly after she accused Robinson of sexual harassment, that Robinson had threatened to “kill that Bitch” (meaning Hill) if he lost his job, and that all four tires of another employee’s car were slashed after a woman threatened to report that Robinson had harassed her. The letter also stated that Robinson bragged in the cafeteria that he had slashed the tires to “repay the woman for telling on him,” and that it was “this type of retribution” that “keeps people from speaking out” against Robinson. Finally, the letter concluded by stating: “I have no vendetta against Bill Robinson. My only hope is that the truth be told and Cherri Hill might be seen as an example of what to do when they’ve been sexually harassed.” It was signed, “a concerned employee.” Although management at the brewery where Robinson worked was informed about the allegations of fear and retaliation contained in the letter, the brewery did not reopen the investigation, warn Hill, ask any employees if they felt threatened by Robinson, or create a confidential means for reporting allegations of harassment. Robinson continued to work on line 75 until he was terminated for harassing Hawkins and another employee in 2003.