Lambda Legal announced Thursday that it has settled an antigay discrimination lawsuit between the Foot Locker sports retail chain and one of its gay employees. Under the agreement, Foot Locker will train its managers and employees more aggressively about antigay harassment. The company also paid plaintiff Kevin Dunbar an undisclosed amount of money.
Dunbar, 26, suffered antigay harassment and discrimination at the hands of his coworkers, supervisors, and a customer at two different Foot Locker stores in Columbia, S.C. When Dunbar formally complained, the promised confidentiality of the complaint was broken and the discrimination grew worse.
"Kevin Dunbar's nightmare can't be undone but helped make one of the country's large employers a better workplace for gay people," said Greg Nevins, senior staff attorney in Lambda Legal's Southern regional office. "Everyone deserves to work in a safe environment, and this agreement with Foot Locker will help ensure that what happened to Kevin Dunbar won't happen again."
Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on Dunbar's behalf this summer. The lawsuit argued that Foot Locker breached its contract with Dunbar by violating the company's own antiharassment, antidiscrimination, and open-door policies that are promised in the employee handbook.
"I am very pleased to have this over and to be able to move on with my life," said Dunbar. "No one should have to go through what I experienced, and now, hopefully, no one will. The support I've gotten throughout this ordeal, sometimes from complete strangers in Columbia, gave me confidence to persevere."
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