Fired Exec Wins Harassment Case

A 34-year-old woman was awarded more than $682,000 in a sexual harassment lawsuit against her former employer and her supervisor, who has since left the business.

Susan Zavatto, who worked two years at Chatsworth-based Clifford Electronics Inc. as a marketing executive, sued the company and its former president, Alex Wijnen, after he allegedly invited her up to his hotel room during a 1999 business trip to Las Vegas. On two occasions, Zavatto said, Wijnen asked if she wanted to “take a bath” with him in a private Jacuzzi in the room.

Upon returning from the trip, Zavatto said, she complained to the company’s human resources department, but no action was taken. Three weeks later, she was fired.

The jury in Los Angeles Superior Court found in Zavatto’s favor Friday and compensated her for lost wages and emotional distress. However, the jury deadlocked on whether Zavatto should receive punitive damages.

Clifford, which manufactures car alarm systems, was ordered to pay $582,000 and Wijnen about $100,000, according to Zavatto’s attorney, Craig Horowitz. Neither defendant’s attorney was available Tuesday for comment.

“I’m sure if I had said yes that night, my office would be next to his on executive row,” said Zavatto, who was engaged at the time of the incidents. “There is a big difference between flirting with someone innocuously and making a direct invitation to join him in his room. It was very clear to me what his intentions were.”

Zavatto said once her complaint surfaced, she faced retaliation from her bosses. She said she was criticized for poor performance at work and was moved from a skyline office to an area behind a storage garage. She also said that reports she submitted were scrutinized, which had never occurred before she made her allegation.

Three weeks after she came forward with her complaint, she was fired. She said she was told by company executives that her termination was due to internal restructuring and her apparent cutback in work. Although she was told that her position had been eliminated, Zavatto said she learned that less than six months later she was replaced by another employee at the same starting salary.

“You can’t make employment decisions just because someone complains,” Horowitz said. “My client had the audacity to say no, so that other employees aren’t subjected to potential harassment.”

Horowitz said two other women testified at the trial that they also experienced sexual harassment while at Clifford. One woman quit her job and the other opted to stay with the company.

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Wijnen was the chief operating officer of Vivitar Corp., which produces photographic equipment, from 1994 to 1998. He left that company for Clifford, from which he resigned in August.

“It wasn’t so much about trying to win money. It was more about getting a pound of flesh,” said Zavatto, who has found work elsewhere since she filed her lawsuit. “I know my case won’t end sexual harassment in the workplace, but at least at Clifford it will.”