A woman has tentatively settled her lawsuit against a global insurance brokerage in which she alleged that she was subjected to relentless sexual harassment by a male executive while working as a project manager for the company’s production resource group, including being ordered to kiss him during a Kings game “kiss cam” moment.
The plaintiff is identified only as Jane Doe in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against the Lockton Companies LLC. On Monday, her attorneys filed court papers with Judge Daniel S. Murphy notifying him of a “conditional” resolution of the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by Dec. 11. No terms were divulged.
Doe’s allegations included gender discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination. In their previous court papers, Lockton attorneys denied Doe’s allegations and cited multiple defenses, including that her claims were barred wholly or in part by the statute of limitations.
Doe was hired in March 2011. During her first few months at Lockton, an executive came to her work cubicle, sat on her desk and told her that she needed to soften her image, according to her suit. She had regularly worn pants to work and the executive wanted to see her in dresses and shirts, the suit further states. When she started coming to the office so dressed, he commented on her legs, the suit states.
On another day the executive threw $100 bills into the air and told Doe that she could have them if she bent over to pick them up, the suit alleges. Carlin constantly talked about Doe’s calves in person and on the phone, the suit states.
In October 2013, Doe reluctantly went with the executive to a Kings hockey game after he brushed off her complaints that she did not have a coat and bought her one at a store near the office, the suit states. While at the game, the two became the focus of a “kiss cam” moment on the overhead video screen, initially causing Doe to lean away and wait for the camera to focus elsewhere, the suit states.
“Kiss me, kiss me, damn it, don’t embarrass me in front of all these people, get over here,” the executive told Doe, according to the suit filed in July 2024.
Doe initially refused, but ultimately relented and kissed the executive on the cheek, the suit states.
“Afterward, several co-workers and industry friends sent plaintiff text messages saying they were horrified because they saw it all on the Jumbotron,” according to the suit.
The executive also sent Doe unwelcome selfies of himself, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff blames her May 2024 firing on her speaking up about the alleged harassment.