I am an unapologetic Parrothead, having discovered Jimmy Buffett in the mid-1970’s. You may know some or all of “the Big 8” most played Buffett songs, but there’s a deep catalog of work spanning from 1970 until he set sail last Labor Day weekend. Bubbles up, JB.
One of his early songs, “Cuban Crime of Passion” (track 5 off 1973’s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean) never charted. It tells the story of piano player Billy Voltaire who, while in Havana, met Marita “a dancer in from the coast . . . who drove him half wild, he loved that lady the most.” The song continues:
Well one night, he did find her
In the arms of Shrimper Dan
So Billy pulled out a knife, took poor Danny’s life,
And then he turned his own cold hand.
And that’s where our law story begins. Earlier this week, a federal judge in Washington state dismissed a lawsuit filed by the estate of a deceased Boeing employee, with leave to amend. Washington v. Boeing Co., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58359 (W.D. Wash. March 29, 2024).
Here’s what happened, according to decision: Isaiah Washington (Shrimper Dan) got involved in a “sexual relationship” (the court’s words) with his supervisor Rachel Pettit (Marita). But Rachel was in a long term relationship with Isaiah’s co-worker, Ralph O’Connor (Billy). At the same time.
Ralph learned of the “third leg” in the relationship triangle when he pulled up to Rachel’s house and found Isaiah’s car parked there. Ralph – who had anger management issues – caused a scene. Notably, Ralph had been disciplined at work for “threatening behaviors toward other employees. Then Ralph started sending text messages to other Boeing employees, saying he was upset about the Isaiah/Rachel relationship and that he wanted to “pull the trigger.”
So he did. On November 21, 2022, Ralph waited for Isaiah to park his car and, as he walked from it, Ralph shot and killed Isaiah. Then he turned the gun on himself.
The murder/suicide resulted in a civil suit by Isaiah’s estate, claiming that Boeing was responsible for negligent retention, and for sex and race discrimination. Negligent hiring/retention is a real thing. Maryland’s leading case on the claim is Henley v. Prince George’s Co., 305 Md. 320 (1986). Trigger warning here; the facts of Henley are awful.
As to the negligence claim, Isaiah’s estate argued that “as soon as Boeing had notice that [Rachel] was involved in sexual relationships with two of her subordinates, it should have separated [Rachel, Ralph, and Isaiah], rather than continue to schedule them to work together at the same facility on the same schedule. . . .”
But the court noted that the complaint didn’t allege when Boeing knew of should have known about the relationship. Nor did the complaint allege facts that suggested Ralph’s prior behavior put Boeing on notice that he had a propensity for violence. The court gave the estate leave to amend the complaint to try again to get the claim to have some traction.
The sex discrimination claim was similarly dealt with. The complaint alleged that Ralph harassed Isaiah because of his “sexual relationship” with Rachel. But that’s not what sex discrimination is about. Having a sexual relationship, said the court, is not the same as treating someone differently “because of sex.” The court again gave the estate the chance to file an amended complaint to support the claim with additional allegations.
The takeaway here? Workplace violence, while infrequent, is a horrible thing. It continues to present challenges for employers beyond the fact that an employer can be held liable for the inaction of its supervisors, managers or agents. Employers should ensure all employees are aware of the need to report concerns of employee misbehavior up the chain.