Jury Awards $2.17 Million Against SkyWest Airlines for Sex Discrimination

DALLAS – A federal jury has awarded $2 million in punitive damages against SkyWest Airlines, a Utah-based airline, and $170,000 for emotional harm to Sarah Budd, a female parts clerk, to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today. The verdict is the largest jury trial award ever obtained by the EEOC in the Northern District of Texas.

According to the EEOC, multiple coworkers and at least one manager made extremely crude sexual comments to Budd, including the suggestion that she should make money via prostitution. Male co-workers also made suggestions or requests that Budd perform demeaning sex acts, and made frequent jokes and remarks about rape and rape victims, including the statement that women who report rape do so for attention. The jury agreed that Budd, herself a survivor of sexual assault, experienced physical illness and intense mental anguish as a result of her work environment.

Budd reported the sexual harassment to her supervisor, who did nothing in response to her complaint. When Budd reported the sexual harassment to the employee relations department, the employee relations manager did not interview many employees identified as witnesses to and participants in the harassment or ask obvious follow-up questions. As a result, the investigation did not uncover the full extent of the harassment. Although SkyWest promised to discipline participating coworkers and provide department-wide training, the discipline was superficial and SkyWest canceled the training after Budd retired, deciding that it was no longer necessary. SkyWest conducted training three years later, and only in response to litigation, the EEOC said.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex and retaliation for reporting a hostile work environment. The EEOC filed suit (Civil Action No. 3:22-cv-01807) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The Dallas jury of ten returned a unanimous verdict finding that SkyWest Airlines subjected Budd to a hostile work environment based on her sex and that the company knew or should have known of the harassment but failed to take prompt remedial action. The jury did not find Budd had also been retaliated against when she was placed on indefinite administrative leave following her complaint, however.

The monetary judgement was reduced to $300,000 based on Title VII’s statutory caps applicable to compensatory and punitive damages.

“Ms. Budd had over a decade of experience at SkyWest and before the sexual harassment occurred and had intended to retire there,” said Alexa Lang, a trial attorney in the EEOC’s Dallas District Office. “All Ms. Budd wanted was to be heard and to stop this from happening to other women. The jury heard her. We hope the verdict sends a message to SkyWest and other employers that they must take responsibility for making sure their workplaces are free from sexually hostile conduct. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work.”

The attorneys representing the EEOC include lead trial attorney Lang and trial attorneys Brooke López and Ann Henry. Budd was also personally represented by Edith Thomas of the law firm of Zipen, Amster, & Greenberg.

For more information on sex-based discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination. For more information on sexual harassment, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employ­ment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.