Is Employer’s Suit Seeking Punitive Damages ‘Retaliation Per Se’ for Harassment Claim?
Tammy A. Greer-Burger v. Laszlo Temesi, Case no. 2006-1616 8 th District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County) ISSUE: When an employee has sued her employer for sexual harassment and the case has been decided in favor of the employer, does a court’s application of the “anti-retaliation” provision of Ohio’s civil rights law to sanction the employer for later seeking to recover punitive damages against the employee for alleged malicious prosecution and abuse of process violate the employer’s constitutional right to seek redress of grievances through the courts? BACKGROUND: In 1998, Tammy Greer (now Tammy Greer-Burger) filed a sexual harassment suit alleging that her former employer, Laszlo Temesi, had engaged in a pattern of inappropriate actions and sexual comments directed toward Greer. A jury returned judgment in favor of Temesi. Five months later, in May 2000, Temesi filed a civil suit against Greer seeking to recover his costs of defending against her harassment suit and also seeking p