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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Monday, October 7, 2002

AT WORK
Lawsuits against supervisors becoming more common

By Stephanie Armour
USA Today

Managers, beware. Increasing numbers of workplace lawsuits are going after more than employers and corporate officers. They're also taking aim at supervisors.

Several recent legal rulings in lower courts have upheld the rights of employees to sue managers as well as individual companies. These legal rulings are paving the way for such lawsuits to become far more of a standard practice.

In response, companies are alerting supervisors to the potential for personal liability, and managers are looking into whether their employer's insurance will cover them. Consider recent cases:

• The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this year that former Kansas City, Mo., police dispatcher Susan Darby can pursue a claim against individual supervisors. In a lawsuit against the department and several managers, Darby says she was told she wouldn't be promoted because she had taken leave for thyroid disease. She resigned in 1999. A police spokesman denies her claims.

• The 1st District California Court of Appeals ruled this year that a supervisor can be held liable for an employee's complaint of retaliation. Richard Walrath sued former employer Hatcher Press of San Carlos, Calif., and its president, Stephen Sprinkel, for wrongful termination. He said they retaliated against him for complaining about age bias at the print shop. Sprinkel declined to comment.

• After a Utah securities representative admitted in a suicide note to stealing from clients, the state Division of Securities sued Sunset Financial Services of Kansas City, Mo., which had hired him as a contractor, as well as company principals and officers — and five supervisors. The company and managers could be liable for more than $2 million. Bill Schalekamp, a lawyer for Kansas City Life, says the brokerage and parent company for Sunset "strongly disagree" with the claim.

Legal experts say they're seeing more cases naming supervisors. "It's a strategy to put additional pressure on defendants to settle," says Michael Lotito, an employment lawyer in San Francisco.

Courts have held that managers are generally exempt from liability in some lawsuits, such as those involving federal civil rights law. But bosses don't have that protection in many other types of cases — including wrongful discharge, retaliation and emotional distress.

Companies might try to reduce liability by claiming a manager was acting outside the scope of his or her authority. In that scenario, managers might end up at odds with their own employer. Managers might be covered by their homeowner's insurance and company or personal liability policies.

Says Chicago employment lawyer Michael Karpeles, "When there's a suit against an individual, if they're held liable, they may have to pay."

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