$2.6 Million
On March 8, 2018 a jury in Santa Cruz county
entered a verdict in favor of Cole Hudson for $2.6
million. Mr. Hudson worked for 8 years as a truck
driver for Beverly Fabrics, Inc., a retailer of
fabrics, arts & crafts. Mr. Hudson was an
exemplary employee by all accounts. He had
consistently good evaluations and received regular
pay raises.
In 2008 a co-worker by the name of Dan Rangle
began harassing Mr. Hudson. The harassment
included showing Mr. Hudson pornographic images on
his phone, spreading false rumors that Mr. Hudson
was gay and that he frequented male prostitutes at
truck stops, pinching Mr. Hudson's nipples,
brushing his hand against Mr. Hudson's butt, and
many other instances of inappropriate conduct. The
harassment went on for years. Supervisors knew of
the harassment and responded by telling Mr. Hudson
to suck it up and deal with it.
On July 10, 2013, Mr. Rangle's harassment
escalated when he twice rubbed his genitals -
through his pants - on Mr. Hudson's arm. Mr.
Hudson decided to report this incident to upper
management. Upper management then made a business
decision to lay off Dan Rangle, thereby avoiding
the need to conduct a full, fair and thorough
investigation into the incident.
A week later, the company laid off Dan Rangle.
Immediately thereafter, Mr. Hudson was re-assigned
to use Mr. Rangle's former truck, which had a
sleeper cab with a mattress that still smelled of
Mr. Rangle's body odor. Mr. Hudson was also told
that because of Mr. Rangle's layoff, he would have
to make up the difference by spending 2 nights a
week on the road instead of just one night per
week. This caused significant strain on Mr. Hudson
and his family.
Two months after Mr. Rangle's layoff, somebody
from upper management came to Mr. Hudson and told
him they were glad this didn't happen to a woman.
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Hudson resigned as a
result of the ongoing harassment, discrimination,
and retaliation. After his resignation, Mr. Hudson
was diagnosed with PTSD, Major Depression and an
Adjustment Disorder. His psychiatrist has
determined he is unable to work.
At trial, we proved that the harassment did, in
fact, occur as described by Mr. Hudson, and that
the company failed to investigate or take
appropriate action according to its policies. We
also proved that, in every other instance
involving male-female or female-male sexual
harassment, the company investigated and acted
pursuant to its policies, but in this case of
male-male sexual harassment, it did not.
Mr. Hudson was represented by Lisa Peck of
Peck-Law and Kevin Schwin, of counsel to Peck-Law.
