Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DISCRIMINATION—SEXUAL HARASSMENT—8th Cir.: Jury’s verdict upheld in sexually hostile work environment case, (Jul 18, 2025)

By Todd Harrison, J.D.

A nursing assistant had experienced multiple physically violent incidents and verbal harassment over a concentrated period, and her complaints were largely ignored.

Affirming a district court’s denial of a nursing facility’s post-trial motions for judgment as a matter of law and a new trial, the Eighth Circuit determined the jury’s verdict was supported by the fact that the harassment was severe and pervasive, occurring over a short period of time, and that the employer failed to take remedial action when the employee complained. Further, the court found that an award of $500,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress was not excessive, noting that the incidents caused the employee to suffer from PTSD related to a past sexual assault, and that the court had previously upheld an emotional distress award in the same amount for a plaintiff who suffered from anxiety after experiencing sexual harassment (Beran v. VSL North Platte Court LLC, No. 23-3527 (8th Cir. July 17, 2025)).

In March 2019, the plaintiff was hired to work as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at a skilled nursing facility. In December 2019, the employer hired a male CNA.

Transfer. Early in his tenure, the male CNA walked by the nurses’ station where the employee was having a conversation and remarked that “all women are crybabies.” Another female nursing assistant reported that he had groped her. He was transferred from Dogwood Hall to Ash Hall sometime around January 18, 2020, due to complaints from female residents. In Ash Hall, he worked alongside the employee.

Verbal, physical misconduct. Soon thereafter, the CNA began a pattern of verbal and physical misconduct targeting the employee. On January 25, he groped her buttocks. The next day, as the employee was transferring a resident from a bed to a wheelchair, the CNA told the employee to stop because she was not capable of performing the task as a woman. When the employee refused, he pushed her against the wall, grabbed her breasts with both hands, and held her in that position.

Both incidents occurred over the weekend when administrators were not present and the employee was unable to report the misconduct immediately.

On Monday, January 27, the employee returned to work and was again scheduled to work with the CNA in Ash Hall. The CNA refused to help deliver breakfast trays. In response to the employee’s request for assistance, he responded that she “needed to cool [her] hormones and pull the rag out.”

Complaints. The employee approached the assistant director of nursing in tears. She reported the CNA’s misconduct over the weekend and that morning. The assistant director suggested that the employee was just stressed out from being short staffed. The employee reiterated that she was upset by the harassment, not her workload, and asked to be transferred to Dogwood Hall. Her request was granted.

Nevertheless, the harassment continued into the afternoon. When the employee went to the cafeteria to retrieve lunch trays, the CNA blocked her access to the galley. He moved only slightly after the employee made multiple requests. When she squeezed past him, he elbowed her hard in the chest.

Following this encounter, the employee approached the director of nursing and reported the incidents that had occurred over the past three days. The director suggested that the employee was making a bigger deal out of the situation than was necessary. However, she said she would have the assistant director launch an investigation.

Superficial investigation. No supervisor ended up conducting a thorough investigation into the employee’s complaints. The assistant director spoke with the CNA and two other employees about his work performance and inquired generally into whether he had disagreements with coworkers or had made physically inappropriate contacts. According to the employee, both the director and assistant director gave her the “cold shoulder” after she reported the misconduct.

“Crucial conversation” document. On January 28, 2020, the supervisors drafted a “crucial conversation” document addressed to the CNA. It reprimanded him for making coworkers “feel uncomfortable.” He never reviewed nor signed the document.

Other complaints. On January 29, the nursing director overheard the employee telling another coworker what had happened. She warned the employee about discussing the CNA’s conduct “because they had other females coming forward to report him with similar findings.” Neither the employee nor the other complainants received a response from the administration regarding their complaints.

Termination. After having the next three days off, the employee returned to work. On February 6, a resident complained about the CNA to the employee. As the resident was sharing this information, the CNA passed by in the hall, accused the resident of using a racial epithet, and shouted the offending word down the hall.

The employee reported this incident to the facility administrator. The next day, the employee was fired for allegedly “targeting” the CNA by making a “false” report about his use of profanity. After her termination, the CNA was reprimanded for inappropriately touching coworkers and was ultimately terminated in June 2020 for using disrespectful and inappropriate profanity towards a resident.

PTSD. As a result of the harassment, the employee experienced a resurgence of severe PTSD. She had suffered from this condition several years ago as the result of being raped at age 16. She had difficulty leaving her bed, getting dressed, or socializing. When she eventually found a new job, she developed irrational fears about communicating with male coworkers and avoided conversing with them whenever possible.

Lawsuit. Subsequently, the employee brought suit under Title VII and the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act alleging a sexually hostile work environment. The case proceeded to trial where the jury found in the employee’s favor, awarding her $500,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress and $2.5 million in punitive damages, later reduced to $200,000 based on the applicable statutory cap. The district court also awarded the employee more than $96,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs. The employer renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law and moved for a new trial. The district court denied the motions and this appeal followed.

Severe and pervasive. First, the court noted that a jury reasonably could have found that the employee was subjected to sexual harassment, consisting of both offensive utterances and physical misconduct, over three full-time shifts. Further, the court found that it could not disagree with the district court that the evidence that the CNA shoved the employee against the wall and groped her breasts was a single incident of sufficient seriousness to submit the case to a jury. The additional misconduct only served to fortify the jury’s finding, said the court.

In addition, the harassment in this case was more severe than the conduct in prior cases on which the employer relied. In one, the alleged harassment included “a sexual touching, a single racial slur, four sexually degrading slurs, and a threat” over 10 working days. Further, the employee in that case only worked for a couple of hours a day and her interactions with the harasser lasted mere seconds. In another case, the plaintiff alleged unwelcome sexual advances—with no physical violence or threat—on three isolated occasions over a nine-month period.

Here, by contrast, the employee experienced multiple, physically violent incidents and verbal harassment that permeated her work environment over a concentrated period.

No remedial action. As to the employer’s contention that it took prompt remedial action in response to the employee’s complaints, the court determined that a reasonable jury also could have found that the employer’s response did not constitute a prompt remedial action that was reasonably calculated to stop the offending conduct.

First, the employee’s supervisors denied that she ever reported the CNA’s sexual harassment. Second, the “crucial conversation” with the CNA never addressed his sexual harassment of the employee. Third, the employer had previously made two disciplinary communications to the CNA with no apparent effect. Finally, the employer failed to notify the employee of its “crucial conversation” with the CNA or update her regarding the resolution of her complaints. Thus, the evidence sufficiently supported the jury’s finding that the employer did not take prompt and remedial action reasonably calculated to end the harassment, said the court.

Punitive damages. Turning to the issue of punitive damages, the court found sufficient evidence to support the jury’s award. A reasonable juror could conclude that the employer made so little effort to respond to the employee’s complaints as to establish reckless disregard of her right to be free of harassment.

Compensatory damages. Next, the court considered the employer’s argument that the award of compensatory damages for emotional distress was excessive and should be remitted or the subject of a new trial.

Here, the court found the jury’s award was supported by evidence of the employee’s emotional distress, including the resurgence of her PTSD and her difficulty in interacting with male coworkers in future employment. The court also determined that the award fell within a reasonable range compared to other jury awards, including a $500,000 award upheld by the court for a plaintiff who suffered from an anxiety disorder after being sexually harassed by a coworker.

Accordingly, the judgment of the district court was affirmed.

The case is No. 23-3527.

Judge: Colloton, S.

Attorneys: Benjamin I. Siminou (Singleton Schreiber) for Katrina Beran. Colin J. Bernard (McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp) for VSL North Platte Court LLC.

Companies: VSL North Platte Court LLC

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