Porter, Kilian Complaint
Porter, Kilian Complaint
Porter, Kilian Complaint
Plaintiff,
Case No. 2:23-cv-00023
v.
Hon.
KILIAN MANAGEMENT
SERVICES, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation;
BRANDON PORTER, an individual,
Defendants.
Plaintiff A.B, by her next friend and parent J.B., by and through their
1. Plaintiff A.B. is an individual and minor, filing by her next friend and
corporation with its principal place of business in West Bend, Wisconsin. Defendant
Kilian owns and operates franchises throughout Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and
Wisconsin.
belief, resides in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan within the Western District.
5. Claims in this action are for sex discrimination in violation of Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, MCL §
37.2101 et seq., and for assault and battery under Michigan law.
U.S.C. § 1331 and supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ state law claims under
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28 U.S.C. § 1367.
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
old girl employed in her first job at McDonald’s. She was harassed and assaulted by
a thirty-six-year-old man who was hired to be her supervisor. The assault and
9. Plaintiff A.B. was sixteen years old when, in October of 2021, she
(“Kilian”).
10. Plaintiff has a history of social anxiety, due to which she began
11. Plaintiff was a strong student and was invited to join the National
12. The McDonald’s position was Plaintiff’s first job and, until the
incidents in question, she greatly enjoyed it, getting along well with her coworkers
and management.
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13. Plaintiff’s social anxiety began to subside over the first several months
14. On or around March 22, 2022, Plaintiff began working with Defendant
Brandon Porter.
15. Defendant Kilian had recently hired Mr. Porter to work as a manager.
16. Kilian hired Porter to supervise minors, despite the fact that he had been
in and out of court for domestic violence and various alcohol-related offenses for
many years.
immediately presented himself to A.B. and her coworkers as being in charge, calling
himself their manager and telling other employees that they had to listen to him.
18. Even during his training, Porter controlled many aspects of the
employees' routines, such as what position they worked at and whether or when they
19. Almost as soon as he met A.B, Mr. Porter began making sexually
suggestive comments to her, including telling her that he wished she were 18 years
old.
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22. On or around March 23, 2022, Jane Doe and A.B. were in the cooler at
work discussing Porter’s inappropriate conduct. Jane Doe informed A.B. that she
her, Ms. Rundell took no action in response to A.B.’s and Jane Doe’s reports.
25. A.B. and her coworkers observed as Rundell trained Porter to “do
informing other employees at various times that he was “in charge,” that he had a
bigger role than another employee, and thus that he didn’t “have to listen” to her.
27. On or around March 28, 2022, A.B. was at work and preparing to have
her dinner. She required a manager’s thumbprint at the cash register to complete her
purchase.
to A.B., “I would like to finger you, but because of your age I can’t, so right now I’ll
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30. The following day, March 29, 2022, Mr. Porter sexually assaulted A.B.
at work.
31. Present on site were A.B., Jane Doe, two other employees (one of
32. Shortly after A.B. began her shift, Porter proceeded to touch her body
without her consent, rubbing her arms, shoulders, and lower back, grabbing her
33. A.B. repeatedly asked Porter to stop and tried to get away from him,
but he followed her around the facility, continuing to touch her and pressing his body
34. Porter repeatedly asked A.B. to go into the back with him, telling her
that she would “enjoy” it and that he would make her feel “happier” and “better.”
hours.
36. For the duration of this time, manager Rundell was present, as was
another manager-in-training.
37. Both Rundell and the other manager-in-training witnessed the assault
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38. Throughout this time, Rundell repeatedly lamented to A.B. and to Jane
39. Rundell failed to call anyone or to take any effective steps to make
Porter stop.
41. The harassment and assault continued until Jane Doe – whose father is
42. Porter only stopped assaulting and harassing A.B. when the police
arrived.
43. The moment the police arrived, A.B. retreated to the bathroom, falling
44. After some time passed, an officer retrieved the emergency contact
45. A.B. remained on the bathroom floor until an officer encouraged her to
come out of the bathroom and attempted to calm her as she awaited her parents’
arrival.
46. The police subsequently determined that Mr. Porter was under the
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47. Porter was questioned, at which time he informed the police that he had
question.
48. On or around March 30, 2022, the day after the above incident, A.B.’s
father, J.B., contacted Defendant Kilian to discuss the incident and to find out
49. J.B. was informed by Kilian employee Kristin D’Agostino (the person
who had originally hired A.B.) that she had personally conducted Porter’s
background check.
50. On the following day, a Kilian’s HR representative told J.B. that she
did not know how Porter “fell through the cracks” when Kilian hired him.
51. Mr. Porter was subsequently charged with criminal sexual conduct. Via
52. On July 11, 2022, the sentencing judge, Julie A. LaCost, admonished
Mr. Porter for assaulting and harassing the minor employees over whom he had been
placed in charge.
53. Judge LaCost noted that Porter had been, “taken out of the criminal
sexual conduct realm by the plea agreement that was entered into, and this was filed,
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54. The judge went on, “So you’re not going to be required to be registering
[on the sex offender registry], which is a huge benefit for you. No employer likes to
see that. But as I look at this, Mr. Porter, I see an OUIL in ’07, that’s what, fifteen
years ago, you were twenty-one years old, and it’s been nonstop since then with three
domestic violences, I’m fairly certain that alcohol was probably involved in those…
So, Mr. Porter, something’s got to change or you’re going to find yourself in prison
or worse, I don’t know. What’s it going to take? Wiping out a whole family? This
isn’t devastating enough to do this to two young girls that were not just young
women but under your employ. You were their role model. You were their
supervisor. You were the position of authority. You’ve ruined that. You’ve
destroyed that trust. Own it. Wear it. Change it. That’s all I can say.”
56. Mr. Porter’s conduct would be highly distressing to any woman but was
hoping that it would help her anxiety by providing her an opportunity to engage with
58. Up until the events in question, the job was a good experience for A.B.
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59. Never could A.B.’s parents have anticipated that their daughter would
despite being in and out of court on domestic violence and other charges.
62. She also has been unable to maintain subsequent employment where
63. To alleviate her symptoms, A.B. was prescribed Ativan for the first
COUNT I
TITLE VII
SEX DISCRIMINATION - HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT
(Against Defendant Kilian Management Services, Inc.)
67. Mr. Porter’s sexual and gendered communications were severe and
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and, therefore, Defendant Kilian Management Services is vicariously liable for the
sustained damages including lost wages and benefits, mental anguish, physical and
71. Plaintiff filed a charge with the EEOC and on January 20, 2023 received
a right to sue letter from the Agency, allowing her to bring suit under Title VII.
COUNT II
ELLIOTT-LARSEN CIVIL RIGHTS ACT
SEX DISCRIMINATION - HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT
(Against Defendants Kilian Management Services, Inc., and Brandon Porter)
and was covered by and within the meaning of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
nature when she was harassed by Defendant Porter, a supervisory employee with
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the basis of Plaintiff’s sex and/or was sexual in nature. The conduct was sufficiently
employees and because of his criminal background which included, among other
things, alleged incidents of domestic violence—of which Kilian knew or should have
known.
78. The actions of the Defendants and their agents were negligent or
79. As a direct and proximate result of those actions, the terms, conditions,
sustained damages including lost wages and benefits, mental anguish, physical and
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COUNT III
ASSAULT AND BATTERY
(Against Defendant Brandon Porter)
unwanted imminent contact, coupled with the apparent present ability to accomplish
the contact.
84. The touching resulted from acts intended to cause such contact.
85. Plaintiff did not consent to this willful, harmful, and offensive touching.
86. Indeed, prior to his sentencing on July 11, 2022, Defendant Porter pled
Therefore, liability on the civil assault claim has already been established by virtue
of his plea on this criminal offense stemming from the same facts.
has sustained injuries and damages including, but not limited to, mental and
emotional distress including anxiety, fear, stress, shock, mental anguish, self-blame,
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humiliation, embarrassment, loss of the sense of security, and the loss of the ordinary
RELIEF REQUESTED
Defendants as follows:
d. all other legal and equitable relief determined by the Court to be appropriate.
Respectfully Submitted,
SALVATORE PRESCOTT
PORTER & PORTER, PLLC
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JURY DEMAND
Respectfully Submitted,
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