ALLENTOWN – An openly gay man who is suing Guess, Inc. for the treatment he says he received while employed at its Sands Bethlehem outlet store, is not being permitted to proceed in his case anonymously.
John Doe of Philadelphia filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Sept. 17 versus Guess, Inc., Guess? Retail, Inc. and Guess Factory of Los Angeles, Calif.
Doe’s lawsuit says he began working in the Guess outlet store in Bethlehem in July 2017 and was named assistant store manager there in December 2018, but staff did not warm to him.
“Doe began to suffer ostracism, aversion, and isolation from the other male employees on account of Doe being openly gay,” the suit said.
The male employees were subordinate employees whom Doe was supposed to supervise as the Assistant Store Manager at the location in question.
“Doe’s male subordinate employees turned the complete opposite direction or intentionally ignored Doe, acting as if they were completely disgusted with Doe, hated Doe and never wanted to be associated with, let alone supervised by, a man known to be gay.”
One male employee allegedly set Doe up to be fired. He allegedly accused Doe of “sexual misconduct by digitally penetrating or ‘fingering’ the male employee in the anus, which is not only untrue, but revolting and utterly preposterous on its face.”
The defendants’ lies also constitute cruel and sadistic mistreatment of Doe, the suit says. The false accusation, in and of itself, is a form of sexual harassment, and constitutes rank discrimination, according to the suit.
“Afterward, Doe followed up and specifically denied the false accusation. Defendants then shifted the reasoning and stated to Doe that Doe was terminated for allegedly ‘breaking company policy,’ which Doe denies.”
On Oct. 6, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. ordered that Doe could not proceed anonymously in his case.
“The second factor also weighs against anonymity. As plaintiff is openly gay, it is not plausible to infer that he fears disclosure of his identity based on the potential for reputational or
social harm as a result of his sexual orientation,” Leeson said.
“Moreover, although plaintiff claims he was discriminated against and wrongfully terminated, there are no plausible allegations of a risk of physical violence, public harassment, or any similar mistreatment as a result of disclosure of plaintiff’s identity. Indeed, counsel’s arguments appear to be exclusively based on “statistical” and “anecdotal” evidence regarding violence based on sexual orientation and sexual identity at large.”
Leeson also shot down the argument that disclosure of plaintiff’s identity will dissuade future litigants from bringing claims for employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and refused to allow Doe to proceed anonymously.
For multiple counts of harassment and hostile work environment tied to sexual orientation, wrongful termination and retaliatory discharge all in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and the City of Bethlehem’s Human Relations and Non-Discrimination Ordinance, the plaintiff is seeking a long list of reliefs:
• Damages in excess of $150,000, which will fully and fairly compensate plaintiff for any and all back and front pay, overtime, benefits, bonuses, commissions, and promotions plaintiff would have received;
• Compensatory damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, anxiety, depression, humiliation, embarrassment, severe emotional distress, and lasting emotional trauma;
• Punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs of suit; and
• Equitable/injunctive relief requiring defendants to remove the false accusation of sexual misconduct from Doe’s personnel file, for defendants to be required to provide a neutral employment reference for Doe, and for defendants to provide an apology and a retraction to Doe.
The plaintiff is represented by Justin F. Robinette of the Law Offices of Eric A. Shore, in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by John M. Nolan III of Jackson Lewis, also in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 5:20-cv-04545
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com