A former Sterling Jewelers employee who alleged she was sexually harassed and wrongfully fired from the Torrance store for complaining about unsafe work conditions during the coronavirus pandemic has dropped her lawsuit against the company.
The plaintiff was identified only as Jane Roe in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit in which she also alleged management did nothing about male colleagues who made misogynistic comments. On Wednesday, Roe’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Tony Richardson asking him to dismiss the suit “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot be refiled.
The pleadings do not state if a settlement was reached or if Roe is not pursuing the case for other reasons. In August 2024, Richardson found there were triable issues in the case and denied a defense motion to dismiss the case wholly or in part.
David Bouffard, a spokesman for Signet Jewelers, the parent company of Sterling Jewelers, previously issued a statement regarding Roe’s suit.
“While it’s our policy not to comment on pending legal matters, it’s important to note that when most of the world was shut down in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sterling, like many other retailers, closed all of its North America stores,” Bouffard said. “Our store in Torrance was one of more than 200 stores that was never reopened as we have continued to optimize our retail store footprint.”
Roe was hired in May 2015 and devoted significant time and effort into building her skills as a jeweler, according to the suit.
“It was (Roe’s) goal to be promoted and rise through the company’s ranks,” the suit stated.
Sterling, the largest specialty jeweler in the United States with more than 1,500 stores throughout the nation, employs thousands of employees. Although Sterling markets its jewelry primarily to women, most of the jewelers who make and repair the company’s products are men, the suit stated.
“Female jewelers like (the) plaintiff were consistently passed over for job opportunities, promotions and pay raises, in addition to being sexually harassed,” according to the suit, which also stated that Roe was “one of about a handful of female jewelers in Southern California out of many employees.”
Roe was often propositioned by male employees, leaving her feeling “extremely uncomfortable and unsafe,” the suit stated.
Some of Roe’s co-workers found out she had an abortion after being impregnated by an abusive ex-boyfriend and they reacted by “viciously bullying and mocking” her, with one saying, “Does your God think it’s OK to kill unborn babies?,” the suit further stated.
A Sterling district manager, defending the co-worker, allegedly told Roe, “Your issues are offensive to everyone around you.”
Roe requested and was granted a transfer to Southern California and began working at the Chino Hills location and then in Torrance in January 2018, the suit stated.
“Although plaintiff was initially optimistic about the fresh start, Sterling’s culture of misogyny continued to plague her employment,” the suit alleges.
High-billing repair jobs were consistently given to male jewelers and Roe’s performance was unfairly scrutinized by her supervisors, the suit stated. One male co-worker repeatedly told Roe he would give her high-billing work in exchange for sexual favors, the suit stated.
Roe’s multiple complaints to human resources were ignored, the suit stated.
When the Sterling store in Torrance closed in March 2020, Roe was placed on a furlough, the suit stated. Prior to her furlough, Roe complained about the lack of ventilation and insufficient masks available in the workplace, which she says caused jewelers to breathe dust, chemicals and other toxic matters while making workers vulnerable to COVID-19, the suit stated.
In July 2020, Roe was told she was being terminated as of the end of the month, the suit stated.
“During the termination meeting, Sterling acknowledged that (Roe’s) termination was not related to performance, while indicating that it was related to her prior complaints,” the suit filed in November 2021 stated.
In their court papers, defense attorneys state that Roe was selected for layoff because she was not considered a top-performing jeweler for her level because her billings only averaged about $1,710 weekly.