Woods

MEMORANDUM **

Plaintiff Gwenevere Dale Woods appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendants Jane Ross, her former supervisor, and Chubb & Sons, her former employer, on her claims of hostile work environment sexual harassment and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Cal. Gov’t Code § 12900 et seq., and assorted state law claims.

Woods’ claims arise out of a business dinner attended by Ross, an attorney with Bonne, Bridges, Mueller, O’Keefe & Nichols, 1 Woods, and several others. The unprofessional conduct of this attorney at the dinner caused Woods to complain of sexual harassment, precipitating an investigation into the incident by Chubb. Woods’ vigorous pursuit of a large settlement with Bonne Bridges raised a question as to whether she was inappropriately leveraging her employment at Chubb for personal gain in violation of Chubb’s conflict of interest policy. Specifically, Woods and her attorney drafted an email to Chubb, describing the dinner in question, and requesting that Chubb sever its business relationship with Bonne Bridges due to the firm’s…