Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 29, 1993 TAG: 9307290235
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The jury awarded $75,000 to Debbie Troutt Stanley, a former waitress at Charcoal Steak House.
Stanley - who has leveled additional charges of sexual harassment that will be heard today - testified that restaurant owner John Peroulas couldn't keep his hands off her.
Peroulas made sexual comments and brushed against her "every chance he could get when no one was around," Stanley told the jury of five women and two men.
"He didn't know what `no' meant."
When the case resumes today in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, a judge will consider Stanley's sexual harassment claims.
While the jury was asked only to decide whether Stanley, 24, was physically assaulted, Judge Sam Wilson will hear additional testimony about the "hostile workplace" at Charcoal Steak House.
Stanley's attorney, Terry Grimes, said he expects to call about eight waitresses to testify that they also were sexually harassed at the restaurant.
If Wilson finds the sexual harassment charges to be true, he could impose additional damages against the business.
Grimes portrayed Peroulas as an older man who hired young, attractive waitresses on the spot and then used his power to try to have his way with them.
"[Stanley] was a fly caught in his web on his home turf," Grimes told the jury. He asked jurors to award damages not only to punish Peroulas, "but as a warning to others like him that this has got to stop."
Peroulas' entire defense consisted of two words:
"No, sir," he said when his attorney asked if the allegations were true.
In opening arguments, Dennis Brumberg had described his client as a successful restaurant owner with strong ties to his church and the business community.
But had Peroulas testified about his good reputation, it would have allowed Grimes to suggest otherwise by calling the eight waitresses to testify they also were harassed.
Peroulas kept it short - but for other reasons, Brumberg said. "What else can someone say, when it didn't happen?" he asked the jury.
Most of Wednesday's case consisted of testimony from Stanley and another waitress who said she saw Peroulas place his hand on Stanley's breast one night behind the cash register.
On other occasions, Stanley said, Peroulas would sneak quick grabs of her thighs, buttocks and crotch while she tried to do her job.
She said her boss would tell her, "You be nice to me, and I'll be nice to you," and that "you ought to get to know me better."
After two years of saying no, Stanley finally quit her job in November 1991.
"I just couldn't take it any more," she testified. "It made me sick to my stomach. . . . I was having nightmares. I was scared to stay at work alone. I was crying in the bathroom. I had a hard time waiting on customers, because you have to be happy."
After the jury awarded $25,000 for her lost wages and other expenses - plus $50,000 in punitive damages - Stanley said she hopes the verdict will encourage other sexual harassment victims.
"That was my main goal," she said. "To send a message to other women that they can do something about this."
by CNB