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PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

Friday, March 29, 2024

Employee blames Ika-Works for a hostile work environment, harassment, retaliation

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PHILADELPHIA — A former worker is suing Ika-Works, alleging a hostile work environment and sex discrimination led to her wrongful termination.

Courtney Gatter of Raleigh, North Carolina, filed a lawsuit on Feb. 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Ika-Works Inc., alleging violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

According to the complaint, Gatter was hired by the defendant as an account manager on March 18, 2014, and on Aug. 29, 2014, the plaintiff traveled to the Balearic Islands in Spain for the defendant’s two-week “Sail and Sales” meeting. Gatter alleges during the trip the defendant’s owner behaved inappropriately to her in a sexual manner.

Over the course of the meeting, Gatter began a sexual relationship with the owner’s son, the lawsuit states, to which the owner publicly reacted to in a confrontational manner.

On Sept. 10, 2014, the suit states, Gatter returned home to the United States, and later that month she was informed during a monthly sales call that she was being terminated.

The plaintiff alleges her termination was discriminatory and retaliatory on the basis of her sex and the defendant’s hostile work environment.

Gatter seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, cost of the suit, expert fees and attorney fees. She is represented by attorneys Stephen G. Console and M. Susan Toth of Philadelphia.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:16-cv-00953

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