
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 7, 1995                   TAG: 9506070055
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SUIT CLAIMS HARASSMENT REPORT CAUSED FIRING

A manager at a Roanoke building supply company is claiming in a lawsuit that she was fired for reporting a case of sexual harassment involving two other employees.

Lois Thurston made the allegations against Moore's Lumber and Building Supplies in a lawsuit filed in Roanoke Circuit Court.

Thurston, a 20-year Moore's employee who worked most recently as accounts payable manager, asked for $485,000 in damages.

According to the lawsuit, Thurston reported the activities of another employee that "could be suspected as sexual harassment."

Thurston made the report in March, about a year after the company sent out a memorandum outlining its policy on sexual harassment and encouraging employees to report cases, according to the lawsuit.

The memorandum promised employees, "you will not be punished for reporting suspected sexual harassment," the lawsuit states.

Four days after she made the report, Thurston's lawsuit alleges, she was terminated from her job.

The lawsuit, filed by Roanoke attorney Thomas Key, stated that Moore's managers told Thurston she was being fired because she had a relationship with a male co-worker. But other employees involved in similar relationships were not fired, according to the lawsuit.

Debra Durney, assistant to the vice president for human resources at Moore's, said Tuesday that the company had not received a copy of the suit and would have no comment.

by CNB