Tru-Stone Corp. v. Gutzkow
Minnesota Court of Appeals
400 N.W.2d 836 (1987)
- Written by Jenny Perry, JD
Facts
William Gutzkow (defendant) quit his job as a laborer with Tru-Stone Corporation (plaintiff) because of harassment by coworkers and his section leader, who was Gutzkow’s direct supervisor. Gutzkow had reported the harassment, and Tru-Stone’s president assured Gutzkow of assistance. However, the plant manager, to whom the president delegated the matter, took no meaningful action to address the problem, and Gutzkow’s section leader continued to call Gutzkow names like slime, scum, and son of a bitch. The section leader also referred to Gutzkow’s wife as a slut and told Gutzkow that he would make Gutzkow quit or get him fired. Gutzkow’s application for unemployment benefits was denied on the grounds that Gutzkow did not have good cause to quit. Gutzkow appealed, and a referee affirmed, finding that Gutzkow did not give Tru-Stone a reasonable opportunity to remedy the situation. Gutzkow appealed again, and the referee’s decision was reversed because Tru-Stone had known for weeks that Gutzkow was being harassed but took no decisive steps to stop the harassment. Tru-Stone appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Foley, J.)
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