Dive Brief:
- A former Wayfair employee filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company, claiming that her supervisor subjected her to unwanted touching and retaliated against her when she rejected his advances (Forsythe v. Wayfair, LLC, No. 1:20-cv-10002 (D. Mass. Jan. 3, 2020)).
- Emily Forsythe said that, on multiple occasions, her supervisor sat uncomfortably close to her and groped her leg. When he asked her for a date, she turned him down, saying she would meet him only for a work-related meal. After that, he allegedly told her she had “failed him as a leader” and was not a “good person.” He also started badmouthing her at work, she alleged.
- Despite Forsythe’s complaints to other managers about the supervisor — complaints that eventually reached HR — the harassment continued, she said. Forsythe eventually was reassigned and HR concluded that her complaints were without merit, based on the supervisor denying the allegations. Forsythe was fired two days after notifying her supervisor of her intent to file a discrimination charge.
