A federal jury rendered a verdict … awarding $850,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to a female farmworker at Favorite Farms in Dover, Fla., who was raped by her supervisor and reported it to police and management that same day.…
The evidence at trial showed that management at Favorite Farms, which primarily grows strawberries, failed to properly investigate the complaint, and instead sent the victim home from work without pay the next work day. Favorite Farms took no action against the harasser, leaving him to supervise women in the fields, despite evidence that this was not the first complaint of sexual harassment. Instead, Favorite Farms continued retaliating against the victim and forced her to take a leave of absence.
If you permit a rapist to keep supervising your employees after an employee complains to you and the police that he raped her, and you further punish the complaining employee by suspending her without pay, you might be the worst employer of 2019.
Thanks to Eric Meyer for bringing the nominee to my attention.