Plaintiffs Florence Washington and Santane Glasgow, cashiers at Walmart, alleged that their coworker circulated explicit photographs of Washington, supposedly obtained from Washington’s alleged ex-boyfriend, to other associates. They claimed Walmart failed to address their complaints, instead reprimanding Washington and terminating Glasgow. Plaintiffs brought claims for sexual harassment, hostile work environment, retaliation, and whistleblower violations under FEHA and the Labor Code.
Walmart retained Horvitz & Levy as consulting appellate counsel at trial. After a multi-week trial, the jury returned a complete defense verdict, finding that Washington’s photographs were not distributed by the individuals alleged, that neither plaintiff faced harassing conduct, and that Walmart’s adverse employment actions were not retaliatory. Horvitz & Levy took the lead opposing plaintiffs’ posttrial motions, which the trial court denied.
On appeal, plaintiffs argued that the trial court improperly limited “me-too” evidence; the court erroneously excluded Washington’s phone records and the alleged ex-boyfriend’s decades-old felony convictions; time limits on plaintiffs’ case denied them due process by curtailing cross-examination; the court made improper comments about a witness’s race; and the harassment jury instructions were defective.
Horvitz & Levy persuaded the Court of Appeal to affirm on all grounds. The court held that the evidentiary rulings were within the trial court’s discretion. The court also held that time limits were properly set and enforced, and that the comment about a witness’s race was harmless. The court found no instructional error and deemed plaintiffs’ additional contentions forfeited.
Doe v. Walmart 
