Harassment, retaliation lawsuit by former Art Department faculty members allowed to proceed

A federal lawsuit filed by two former Art Department faculty alleging that they were sexually harassed and retaliated against is proceeding to trial after parts of SHSU's motion to dismiss were denied.

Plaintiffs Garry and Jasmyne Graybill, who were hired by Art Department chair Tony Shipp in 2008, allege that Shipp created a hostile working environment through sexual harassment. When the married couple complained to then Dean of Arts and Sciences Jaime Hebert, they claim that Shipp retaliated by not giving promised merit pay increases and posting their jobs for others to apply.

According to court documents, the motion to dismiss the Graybill's complaint was recommended in part and denied in part, on Jan. 9.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Malloy recommended that Sam Houston State University's motion to dismiss the Graybill's sexual harassment claims be granted, but the motion to dismiss the retaliation claim be denied.

The sexual harassment suit was dropped because the Graybills could not establish a case, on first examination, of a hostile work environment based on a sexual harassment. The Graybills did not show that SHSU was not following Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Title VII says, "she belongs to a protected class, was subjected to unwelcome sexual harassment, the harassment was based on her sex, and that the harassment affected a term, condition, or privilege of her employment."

The University argued that the Graybill's claims only speculate on the possibility that they were, "subject to unwelcome harassment on the basis of sex, or that any such harassment affected the term, condition, or privilege of employment."

The University also argued that Shipp's repeated social invitations outside of the office to the Graybills did not violate Title VII.

"Shipp's invitations alone do not create a hostile work environment. Nor will an isolated comment give rise to a sexual harassment claim," Malloy said in the court documents.

"There are no allegations that the invitations and remarks were ‘physically threatening or humiliating,'" or to the degree in which the conduct interferes with the workers' performance. There was no factual support for the Graybill's claim that Shipp's repeated invitations and unwanted remarks affected any term or condition of employment, Malloy said.

The retaliation claim that Shipp denied the Graybills a promised merit raise and opened their positions to other applicants because they reported his offensive behavior to SHSU were sufficiently alleged by the plaintiffs, Malloy said.

The trial is set for fall 2012 at the Southern District of Texas U.S. district court.