State high court upholds part of harassment suit

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an opinion reversing part of a lower court's judgment against a woman who claimed a Cape Girardeau hospital wrongfully fired her after she filed a sexual harassment complaint against a doctor.

Madonna Farrow filed a lawsuit against Saint Francis Medical Center and Dr. Cedric Strange in 2010.

In the eight-count lawsuit, Farrow claimed she was subjected to retaliation including defamatory statements, intimidation, criticism in front of colleagues and unwarranted disciplinary action after she complained that Strange had sexually harassed her twice in 2005 and 2006.

Responding to a defense motion, Circuit Judge Benjamin Lewis in February 2011 entered a summary judgment against Farrow and assessed costs against her.

The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld Lewis' judgment in February 2012, but on Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court announced it had reviewed the case and determined Lewis' decision was partially incorrect.

The state's high court upheld the lower court's dismissal of four of the counts in Farrow's lawsuit: post-termination retaliation, defamation, false light invasion of privacy and tortious interference with a business expectancy. In its decision, the court cited issues of timing on the retaliation and defamation claims; duplication between the defamation and privacy invasion claims; and failure to present supporting facts on the tortious interference claim.

The Supreme Court sent the four remaining counts -- sexual harassment, retaliatory discrimination, retaliatory discharge and common law wrongful discharge -- back to the lower court, ruling that Lewis erred in his summary judgment on those claims.