CHICAGO – A Cook County woman is suing Kay Jewelers, alleging she was wrongfully terminated after her ex-boyfriend began harassing her at work.
Catherine Gonzalez filed a lawsuit Jan. 8 in Cook County Circuit Court against Sterling Inc., doing business as Kay Jewelers, alleging retaliatory discharge .
According to the complaint, Kay Jewelers hired Gonzalez as a sales associate in December 2010, promoting her to assistant manager in 2012. After breaking up with her boyfriend, Brad Timm, in July 2014, the suit says, he began a campaign of harassing her at work, calling her employer’s headquarters and falsely saying she was involved romantically with a co-worker, as well as threatening her and a co-worker at the store.
When the harassment continued, the suit says, the Kay Jewelers home office investigated and terminated Gonzalez, allegedly for telling a co-worker, Luis Sanchez, to contact Timm.
Gonzalez seeks damages of more than $50,000 for back pay and benefits, punitive damages and litigation costs. She is represented by Vaziri Law LLC in Chicago.
Cook County Circuit Court Case number 2016-L-000192