Facts

Following the commence of her employment, Raymond was allegedly told by Flynt's then executive assistant that it was their duty as executive assistants to be watchful for Mrs. Flynt whenever Larry Flynt's "special female visitors" were visiting, and to immediately notify Larry Flynt's assistant if Mrs. Flynt was approaching his office. In addition, plaintiff Raymond alleged that she was told to attempt to intercept Mrs. Flynt and either divert or delay her. On Aug. 5, 2002, plaintiff Raymond's employment was terminated for allegedly breaching LFP's confidentiality requirements. Raymond filed her action against Larry Flynt and LFP alleging sexual harassment and hostile work environment. Following a three-day abitration hearing in which conflicting evidence regarding the working environment at LFP was presented. The Arbitrator found that Flynt created a hostile environment for all the executive assistants on the 10th floor, including Raymond, because they participated in "early warning systems" to prevent his wife from discovering certain visitors to Flynt's office, and also found that Flynt made three stray crude comments in Raymond's presence.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff contended she was subject to a hostile work environment while working at Larry Flynt's company, LFP, Inc. Plaintiff claimed that she was the subject of sexual harassment and that defendants created and maintained a hostile work environment under the FEHA.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants contended that LFP fired plaintiff for breaching confidentiality requirements, and generally denied plaintiff's claim of a hostile work environment. Defendants' contended that plaintiff was not singled out "because of sex" and therefore plaintiff's claim under the FEHA should fail.

Result

On Sept. 28, 2010, the Court of Appeal, Second District vacated a final arbitration award dated May 30, 2006 in favor of plaintiff in an amount in excess of $1,700,000 with interest accrued. Thereafter, additional litigation ensued in the trial court relating to plaintiff's claims that she was entitled to another arbitration hearing, despite the Court of Appeal's Decision. However, plaintiff's position was found to be without merit, and on July 26, 2011, the Los Angeles Superior Court entered final judgment in favor of defendants Larry Flynt and LFP, Inc. in the amount of $160,694.41 (for the cost of the surety bond on appeal).

Other Information

The Court of Appeal held, in an unpublished opinion, that the conduct alleged did not rise to the level of harassing conduct because plaintiff allegedly presented no evidence that men and women were treated differently in the workplace, and therefore all of the employees on the 10th Floor were equally exposed to Flynt's harassing behavior and had to participate in the "early warning system" and as such, they could not rule that the harassment was "because of sex."