Kalich v. AT&T Mobility, LLC, No. 10-2554 (6th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseAT&T hired Kalich as a store manager, supervised by Rich, the area sales manager. Rich visited the store about 10 times per month and made comments that Kalich found offensive. These comments involved calling Kalich by a woman’s name, references to his "girlish" appearance and his dog, and calling him a necrophiliac in the presence of employees. Rather than pursue AT&T's internal options, Kalich retained an attorney, who wrote to Rich's supervisor. AT&T began investigation and informed Kalich that Rich would no longer oversee Kalich’s store. Rich was given final written warning and was required to take classes on promoting a professional environment. Kalich resigned, stating that he was uncomfortable with the prospect of encountering Rich and sought damages under Michigan's Civil Rights Act, alleging hostile work environment. The district court granted AT&T summary judgment. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Harassment or discrimination because of actual or perceived sexual orientation is not prohibited conduct under the Act. The necrophilia comment, the only comment that could conceivably constitute sexual harassment, is not an extremely traumatic experience that Michigan courts recognize as creating a hostile work environment by a single occurrence. AT&T made adequate efforts to remedy the situation when it received notice.
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