Monday, September 15, 2014

Jon Dalver Inc. v. Arch Ins. Co. (Cal. Ct. App. - Sept. 15, 2014)

How'd you like to have this case walk in the door:

The owner/manager of Jon Dalver, Inc. (a cosmetics manufacturing company) sees a used sanitary napkin around the toilet area in the women's bathroom and blood around the toilet seat.  She promptly goes ballistic, and (allegedly) goes to department full of female workers screaming that they're "dirty" and demanding to know who's on their menstrual period.

Pretty bad, right?  I mean, you're probably going to get sued for that.

But it gets worse.

Not satisfied when each of the workers says they're not responsible -- having had the supervisor scream "Are you on your period?! at each employee -- the manager then forces another employee to "take each of [the employees] into the bathroom, one by one, and check their panties to see who was on their menstrual period, by requiring each to pull down their pants and underwear for an inspection.”  The employees ask what happens if they refuse, at which point the supervisor says they'll be fired.  So a male supervisor waits outside the bathroom door with the female supervisor as "the designated female employee went into the bathroom with each employee, 'stood a foot or two away' while the employees 'had to pull down their pants and their panties, exposing their vaginal area, so that [the employee] could see if they were wearing a sanitary napkin and therefore on their period.'"

Oh my.

I'll take that case on the plaintiffs' side, thank you very much.  Since it's akin to taking candy from a baby.

Oh, and this conduct isn't covered by insurance.

Not a good day for Jon Dalver, Inc.