Judge denies SkyWest’s bid for new trial in sex discrimination suit

A federal judge in Dallas denied SkyWest Airlines Inc.’s requests to vacate a female parts clerk’s $300,000 award for sexual harassment and grant a new trial, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Monday.

The judge in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. SkyWest Airlines Inc. also ordered the airline to establish a protocol for investigating complaints of sexual harassment, conduct annual training for its employees at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport who are responsible for employee relations and post notice of the protections of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the agency said.

The EEOC said in its August 2022 lawsuit against SkyWest that coworkers made crude and derogatory comments about rape and rape victims to the employee and that her manager did nothing in response to the complaints.

Following a six-day trial in November 2022, a jury awarded the employee $2 million in punitive damages and $170,000 for emotional harm. The judge later reduced the amount to $300,000 due to Title VII’s statutory caps for compensatory and punitive damages.

Representatives for the parties did not respond to requests for comment.