EMPLOYMENT
Jury sides with worker on retaliation claim
On Dec. 6, 2012, a jury awarded $60,000 to a woman who claimed that she was fired from her Veteran Affairs job after filing a complaint that she was sexually harassed. Tewonna Williams was a pharmaceutical assembly line worker at the VA. The VA contended that Williams was not a VA employee, so it could not have violated the Civil Rights Act. The VA contended that Williams was a contract employee who was hired by a temporary labor agency. The plaintiff argued that she was a VA employee since it told her what to do and controlled her work environment. Co-workers testified that their work was controlled by the VA. The jury found that she was an employee.
