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The lawsuit says she received unwanted sexual advances from the company's then-chief executive.
By KRIS HUNDLEY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 28, 2002
The former president and chief operating officer of Cryo-Cell International Inc. has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the Clearwater company that fired her abruptly in December.
Wanda Dearth, 49, alleged in a lawsuit filed in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court that soon after she joined Cryo-Cell in May 2000, she began receiving unwanted sexual advances from Daniel Richard, then chief executive and chairman of the company.
Richard is also founder and largest shareholder of Cryo-Cell, which freezes stem cells taken from the umbilical cords of newborns for future medical use.
Company officials denied the accusation. Richard, who resigned in June but remains on the board, did not return a call to his home in Boynton Beach.
In her complaint, Dearth said Richard, 72, subjected her to "offensive touching, offensive professions of romantic love, and other offensive romantic overtures" starting in June 2000. Among the tokens of his affection, she said: a love poem he wrote for her.
Dearth says in the lawsuit that Richard made it clear her success at the company was contingent upon her acquiescing in, or at least tolerating, his advances. Before joining Cryo-Cell, Dearth had been vice president of the health care division of Kforce Inc. in Tampa.
In June 2001, Dearth complained to Cryo-Cell's board about Richard's behavior. Three male board members met with her to discuss the matter, she said.
"One of the men said, 'I've worked with Dan for many years and he never made a pass at me,' " she said. "I never heard another thing until they told me to pack my bags and leave."
Dearth said the retaliation began immediately after she complained to the board. "It turned into a hostile work environment, with harassing phone calls from Dan (Richard), public humiliation in front of colleagues and lies," she said. Dearth said Richard also reneged on a promised $50,000 raise.
Mercedes Walton, who succeeded Richard as chairman of the board, said Cryo-Cell's directors investigated Dearth's harassment complaint but found it to be without merit. She also said Dearth's firing, which at the time was blamed on a difference over marketing strategies, was for business, not retaliatory reasons.
"The Cryo-Cell board terminated Ms. Dearth for legitimate nondiscriminatory and nonretaliatory business reasons," Walton said. "The board determined Ms. Dearth's performance was detrimental to Cryo-Cell's business and we owed a responsibility to our shareholders. We intend to vigorously defend our decision."
As required by law, Dearth initially filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission. Because the EEOC did not act on the complaint within 180 days, it gave Dearth a letter confirming her right to sue.
Manuel Zurita, area director for EEOC, refused to comment on Dearth's complaint. He said, however, that the right-to-sue letter implies no value judgment by the agency on the merits of the case.
Dearth is seeking reinstatement to her position, which paid $150,000 a year, as well as compensation for lost income and benefits, damages and attorney's fees.
Earlier this year Dearth filed a separate lawsuit against Cryo-Cell, alleging wrongful termination. That complaint was settled out of court for about $80,000.
-- Times researcher Cathy Wos assisted in this report. Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2996.