Dish Network trial begins
Former executive assistant claims sex discrimination
By Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published February 26, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Ergen's office is one of those Baker sat near after transfer.
A former Dish Network executive assistant was subjected to a hostile workplace that included commentary on female employees' anatomy and tales and photos of a trip to the Playboy Mansion, jurors were told Monday in Denver federal court.
Sharon Baker, who worked at Douglas County-based Dish Network for nearly six years until 2004, is suing the company for alleged sexual discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment.
She says she was forced to leave because the company wouldn't agree to her repeated requests to be transferred elsewhere.
Dish counters that Baker never filed any formal complaints about alleged harassment, including in her letter of resignation.
Instead, Baker was upset when her longtime boss and friend Soraya Hesabi-Cartwright left in 2004 and she didn't feel that her new job working for Executive Vice President Michael Kelly carried comparable responsibility, the company says.
"This case is about a woman who quit her job so she could follow her friend and mentor Mrs. Cartwright to her next job," Meghan Martinez, an attorney for Dish, told the jury of six women and one man during opening statements.
Former Dish vice president Hesabi-Cartwright filed a discrimination suit as well against Dish when she left, claiming she was subjected to "violent yelling fits" from CEO Charlie Ergen in front of other managers.
Hesabi-Cartwright and Dish settled the case for an unspecified amount ahead of trial.
Baker hired Hesabi-Cartwright's same attorney and now works for her, Martinez said. Baker, who says she was without a steady paycheck for a year and a half after she was forced out of Dish, is seeking unspecified monetary damages for lost wages and emotional distress.
Baker said that after Hesabi-Cartwright left, she was transferred to the executive suite where she sat just outside the offices of Kelly, Ergen and President Michael Dugan.
Within her first month, Dugan invited her into his office to show Baker photos from his trip to the Playboy Mansion, which "made her uncomfortable," said her attorney Robert Truhlar.
Baker also, among other things, overheard executives make "vulgar and sexist" remarks about female co-workers, Truhlar said. She and other employees complained repeatedly to the head of human resources but none of the complaints was ever documented or investigated, he said.
Dish attorney Martinez showed jurors e-mails indicating that Baker had a friendly relationship with Dugan and Kelly, whom she later accused of harassment, and that any complaints she made to human resources about their behavior were "general" and lacked urgency.
"Nobody likes cursing and nobody likes yelling, but that's not what this case is about," Martinez told the jurors. In court papers, Dish attorneys say the company is a "tough" work environment but that "yelling, profanity and a few crude comments" don't constitute sexual harassment and discrimination.
Dish, formerly called EchoStar, is the second-biggest satellite TV provider after DirecTV.
The trial before U.S. District Judge Zita Weinshienk is expected to last as long as 10 days.
The case: Sharon Baker v. EchoStar Communications
A former employee says she was forced out of her job.
* The plaintiff: Sharon Baker, an executive assistant at Douglas County-based Dish Network from 1998 to 2004, is suing the satellite-TV provider for sexual harassment, retaliation and a hostile work environment.
The former executive assistant was transferred to the company's executive suite in January 2004, and claims she repeatedly complained about the "vulgar and profane" environment and she was forced to quit after the company failed to transfer her.
* The defendant: EchoStar says Baker was upset when her close friend and former boss Soraya Hebasi-Cartwright quit and felt that her new job wasn't comparable and that she never gave any formal indication that she felt harassed or discriminated against.
* The trial: The seven-person jury trial in Denver federal court is expected to last as long as 10 days.
* Possible witnesses: Lawyers said they might call EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen, General Counsel David Moskowitz and Executive Vice President Michael Kelly.
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Fred1 writes:
I worked there in the 90s and same crap. Arrogance is the DISH way. The worst working environment I have ever seen. The execs should all be ashamed of themselves. I guess that is what money does to you.