Dallas CEO ordered to pay $5.7 million in workplace sexual harassment case
A Dallas County court has ordered Robert "Bob" Lovell, the owner and president of Home Marketing Services — famous for his "bless your heart" ads — to pay $5.7 million in damages to a woman and employee he supervised.
It is the third-largest sexual harassment judgment ever in Texas for a single plaintiff.
The court found Lovell repeatedly sexually assaulted, sexually harassed, and retaliated against the woman, referred to as Jane Doe.
Lawsuit claims CEO used code words, threats to coerce sexual acts from employee
According to allegations in court documents, Lovell pressured Jane Doe for sexual acts as a condition of her employment. This pressure included code words for acts Lovell wanted Jane Doe to perform.
"Defendant would use words when he wanted oral sex from Plaintiff in the HMS workplace. Defendant would say, I think you need a 'taste' if they were alone. If Plaintiff and Defendant were in front of other people in the HMS office, Defendant would say he needed a 'cup of coffee.' Plaintiff knew that when Defendant said those code words, Defendant wanted oral sex."
The lawsuit outlines claims of how Jane Doe tried to avoid being alone with Lovell in the office; however, when she was avoiding contact, the lawsuit says, Lovell would come into her office and ask what they were going to do about her daughter's health insurance premiums, "while simultaneously grabbing his penis area with his hand."
According to the lawsuit, Lovell was paying the insurance premiums for Jane Doe's daughter and threatened to stop paying if she didn't give him oral sex.
Jane Doe alleged in the lawsuit that when she gave in to Lovell's demands, she received the best sales leads; when she made excuses and did not give in to his demands, she received no leads.
CEO's denial rejected as court cites evidence proving sexual assault, retaliation
Lovell denied any sexual activity with Jane Doe; however, the court found that his denial was not credible or believable.
"Plaintiff knew physical characteristics of Defendant that Plaintiff could only know if she engaged in sexual activity with Defendant," the lawsuit states.
The court also found that Lovell knowingly exposed Jane Doe to bodily fluids during sexual acts without her knowledge or consent, which the court ruled constituted sexual assault.
The court also found that other HMS employees were sexually harassed by Lovell and corroborated Jane Doe's testimony.
One of Jane Doe's daughters also worked at HMS part-time. In October of 2021, her oldest daughter, who had recently given birth, went into the HMS office. Court documents state that when Lovell saw her, he said to her, "your boobs are huge" and "I wonder what your milk tastes like."
After that, she would not go to the office without her husband and Jane Doe told Lovell she would no longer submit to his sexual demands, court documents state.
Lovel then "willfully, intentionally, and maliciously began to retaliate."
Court documents state that he told his administrative assistant to cancel Jane Doe's minor daughter's medical health insurance, which did occur.
Jane Doe then filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission discrimination charge. The lawsuit states that after Lovel received a copy of the EEOC charge, he retaliated against Jane Doe, including the silent treatment, before she was ultimately fired.
"No employee should have to endure the abuse I suffered from a man in a powerful position. I'm pleased that Texas law now provides additional protection to women in the workplace," Jane Doe said.
This case is the first time an individual Texas business owner has been held personally liable under a new law that Gov. Greg Abbott signed in 2021, according to Jane Doe's lawyer, Rogge Dunn. That law expanded liability to owners, supervisors, and fellow employees, making them personally liable for sexual harassment.
"Texas law now holds employees personally accountable when they sexually harass a fellow employee," said Dunn. "This judgment sends a message: Executives and employees who sexually harass employees and then retaliate when those employees stand up for themselves will face significant consequences. It's also noteworthy that victims can sue under the name 'Jane Doe' or 'John Doe' to protect their identity and privacy."
Lovell has not been criminally charged.
CBS Texas has reached out to Lovell's lawyer for a statement, but has not heard back.