Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 30, 1993 TAG: 9307300153
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Then he kept right on doing it, other waitresses testified this week in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.
Judge Sam Wilson said Thursday he had "no doubt" that Debbie Troutt Stanley was sexually harassed by Peroulas at his restaurant, the Charcoal Steak House on Williamson Road.
Stanley was one of about a dozen waitresses who said - either in testimony or affidavits - that Peroulas assailed them with sexual comments and furtive touches.
A jury found Wednesday that Stanley was physically assaulted and awarded her $75,000 in damages. In the trial's second phase, which dealt with sexual harassment, Wilson ruled Thursday that Peroulas' actions created a hostile workplace.
The trial revealed what attorneys called the "dark side" of one of Roanoke's finest restaurants and portrayed Peroulas as an older man who couldn't keep his hands off his young and attractive waitresses.
It is believed to be the first sexual harassment case to go to trial in Roanoke, according to Stanley's attorney, Terry Grimes.
Although sexual harassment has received public attention in recent years, it is still rare to see such allegations in court.
One reason is that until 1991, federal law allowed victims to collect only lost wages. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 permits larger jury verdicts to compensate for emotional and psychological suffering, as well as punitive damages.
Even with the new law, Grimes said, many women either endure sexual harassment for fear of losing their jobs, or fail to report it for fear of losing in court.
"It's like rape," Grimes said. "Maybe one out of 10 is reported."
In testimony Wednesday, Stanley told the jury how Peroulas would make passes and brush against her "every chance he had."
On other occasions, Stanley testified, Peroulas would sneak quick grabs of her breasts, buttocks and crotch - telling her, "You be nice to me, and I'll be nice to you."
Peroulas denied everything, but Wilson said he was not impressed by his testimony.
Peroulas said his restaurant has a sexual harassment policy that he posted on a kitchen wall. But under cross-examination by Grimes, he admitted the policy was created after a waitress accused him of harassment in 1988. That case was settled out of court.
Peroulas' attorney, Dennis Brumberg, argued that Stanley could have left her job much sooner if she truly felt harassed.
Stanley, who started work at Charcoal Steak House in 1989 and quit after two years, was not allowed to have a jury hear her sexual harassment claims because they predated the 1991 law.
But Wilson ruled she had proven the four elements of sexual harassment: that the conduct was unwelcome, that it was based on sex, that it created a hostile workplace and that her employer had knowledge of it and failed to take action.
The judge delayed a decision on additional damages.
Although the Roanoke Times & World-News usually does not identify victims of sexual offenses, Stanley agreed to go public in hopes of encouraging other women who are sexually harassed to take action.
The trauma is "always on my mind," she said. "When I'm at work, I'm really paranoid about men."
by CNB