She emailed HR twice about the harassment — what the company did next raises questions
A federal lawsuit accuses Lockheed Martin and its subsidiary Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of firing an employee who reported months of harassment that allegedly ended in a physical attack.
The case, filed February 19, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, centers on what Jillian Rhodes describes as a pattern of escalating workplace harassment that went unaddressed despite repeated appeals to the company's human resources department.
Rhodes, a former upholsterer at the defendants' Stratford, Connecticut facility, alleges that beginning in approximately July 2023, two co-workers — Vicky Martinez and Nicole Gouveia, both assigned to the Receiving and Inspection Department — subjected her to offensive, intimidating, and aggressive conduct tied to her race, skin color, and gender. The alleged behavior included racially charged language, derogatory name-calling, physical intimidation, and being followed into the restroom.
What makes the case especially striking for HR professionals is the alleged response — or lack of one — from the company's own HR team. According to the filing, Rhodes raised her concerns directly with Danielle Desrosiers, the company's HR Business Partner, via email on at least two documented occasions: February 14, 2024, and April 4, 2024. The lawsuit alleges that despite these written warnings, no prompt or effective remedial action followed.
The situation allegedly came to a head on July 3, 2024, when Martinez physically assaulted Rhodes at the facility. Twelve days later, on July 15, the company terminated Rhodes — even though, as the lawsuit contends, Martinez was the ultimate aggressor in the incident.
Both employees were let go. But what happened next raises additional questions. According to the filing, the company subsequently rehired Martinez with no restrictions on her movement throughout the facility. Rhodes was also offered reemployment, but under conditions she describes as restrictive and unjust, with no assurance she would be protected from Martinez going forward. She says she had no real choice but to decline.
The lawsuit brings claims of hostile working environment and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act. Rhodes is seeking compensatory damages, interest, and attorney's fees, and has requested a jury trial. No determination on the merits has been made.
For HR leaders, the case reads as a cautionary sequence: documented warnings went unanswered, a workplace situation escalated to violence, and the employee who raised the alarm alleges she was the one who paid the price.
Proven or not, the questions the case raises are ones every HR department should be prepared to answer — when complaints come in, what happens next?
