MCCORMACK v. SAFEWAY STORES INCORPORATED
In 2011 a Safeway female employee was sexually assaulted by a presumed supervisor while at work.
1. Facts of the Case
On March 3, 2011, Samantha Stabenchek was sexually assaulted by Jose Lopez. During their on shift working hours, Lopez cornered Stabenchek making sexual advances and grabbing her inappropriately. Samantha was extremely shy and quite, she felt uncomfortable reporting the incident herself. Mary McCormack, mother of Stabenchek, reported the assault because Stabenchek was uncomfortable to make the report herself, she was also 17 years of age therefore a minor. McCormack was able to report to upper management the incident that had transpired between Lopez and Stabenchek. Which then lead to Lopez’s termination on March 26, 2011. Stabenchek and her mother filed a law suit against Safeway for the sexual assault that took place in 2011. According to the court documents Case 2:12-cv-02547-DGC Document 80 Filed 02/12/14 Stabenchek aided in the internal investigation by the company into Lopez’s behavior.
The court documents further state that Lopez was harassing Stabenchek before the incident had taken place. Stabenchek and McCormack had provided text messages that were sent to …show more content…
McCormick claimed that her dismissal was a direct result of reporting Lopez. McCormick and Stabenchek also claimed that the situation with Lopez was not handled properly and that Lopez should have been reprimanded earlier preventing the misconducted on March 3rd. After hearing all the testimonies and witness statements the court concluded that McCormick and Stabenchek did not have sufficient evidence to support their claims. It was also concluded through the testimony of Safeway management that Lopez was never in the supervisory position and therefore could not hold to the policies of Supervisory and subordinate relations