Suit Against Anheuser-Busch Dismissed

VAN NUYS —  A sexual harassment suit against Anheuser-Busch has been dismissed in federal court after the woman bottler who brought the suit dropped her complaints against a male supervisor.

Elizabeth Haskell of Hollywood, an employee since 1990, filed suit Sept. 6 alleging that her supervisor, Louis Stepter, over a period of years had fondled her, made vulgar displays and comments and denied her job advancement for refusing to engage in sex with him.

Stepter’s attorney, Ricky Ivie, said that in depositions taken from potential witnesses, “no one could corroborate any of the allegations.”

Haskell’s attorney, Robert Shiri, retained the company as a defendant in the suit but dropped allegations against Stepter. “Our contention is that some people are not coming forward” in support of Haskell, Shiri said.

Stepter, a 16-year employee of the Van Nuys brewery, said Friday that he committed none of the acts alleged in the suit. “It was an ordeal to go through,” Stepter said, “but I had the support of my family and my pastor.”

U.S. District Judge Manuel Real of Los Angeles on May 5 dismissed the suit against the company. Shiri said Friday that he will appeal the ruling.

Before that decision, attorneys said that Haskell was fired Feb. 26 by the beer maker when it was discovered that she had wrongfully stated on her job application that she was a high school graduate.

Ivie said that lying on a job application is grounds for firing. But when a union grievance was filed on her behalf against Anheuser-Busch, the company decided to reinstate her, Ivie said.

Although the company offered to rehire Haskell with back pay, she declined because “she would be returning to a hostile work environment,” her attorney said. Shiri said he filed suit against Anheuser-Busch in federal court April 30, alleging wrongful termination and infliction of emotional distress.