After a two day hearing in January 2016, Arbitrator Vicki Pinak issued an opinion through the American Arbitration Association denying the sexual harassment claims made by a former employee against a local restaurant.  The claimant, a pastry cook, alleged that she had been groped by a dishwasher and later subjected to unwanted sexual advances by two sous chefs, then forced to resign when one of the sous chefs retaliated by verbally abusing her. The claimant’s credibility was called into question during the hearing and the arbitrator found that the claimant’s failure to report the harassment as it occurred and her failure to include some of the alleged harassment in her resignation letter, established the employer’s defense under the Supreme Court’s Faragher and Ellerth cases. Kemp Smith partner, Mike McQueen, defended the restaurant.

On February 23, 2016, a jury in El Paso County Court at Law No. Six returned a defense verdict in a lawsuit filed by a truck driver against his former employer alleging he was discharged because of his age. The driver, Cruz Trevizo, represented by Jeffrey McElroy of Davie, Valdez & McElroy, claimed he was told by the owner of Bouche Trucking, Inc, that he could not use him because he was “too old for me to do anything with you.”  The company, represented by Kemp Smith partner Mike McQueen, maintained that it had numerous older drivers and that Trevizo was discharged because he engaged in disrespectful conduct toward his dispatcher-supervisor, both over the telephone and in a meeting held by the company owner to address the situation. Trevizo asked the jury for $150,000 in damages and the twelve person jury unanimously found no age discrimination.