ServPro to Face Franchisee Worker’s Sex Harassment Suit

ServPro Industries Inc. must face claims that a New Jersey woman was subjected to sexual harassment while working for one of its franchisees, a federal court ruled.

Tiffany Michalak adequately alleged the cleanup and restoration franchiser exercised enough control over the day-to-day operations of her employer, O’Donnell Restoration LLC, to hold ServPro liable under an agency theory, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey said Aug. 6. The manuals and policies ServPro provided O’Donnell Restoration as a franchiser indicate actual authority, the court said in an unpublished opinion.

The policies “were both mandatory and related to employee ...