Male on Male Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Goes to Trial

Theodore Greenberg lawsuit against the Art Institute of Los Angeles will proceed to trial, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg ruled Thursday.

Greenberg alleges that he was sexually harassed by Mark Lowentrout, a supervisor at the school’s Santa Monica campus.

In his complaint, Greenberg alleges that on December of 2011 he was employed as a teacher at the Art Institute, with Lowentrout as his supervisor. Greenberg was originally hired by the Art Institute in December 1991.

Greenberg, a musician by career, has received two Grammys. Lowentrout claims to have produced over 383 television commercials, films, television shows, and industrials. But Greenberg alleges that the other man’s resume is exaggerated. He also alleges that beginning in December 2010, Lowentrout made sexual remarks and made advances to both on campus in private, including incidents at a concert in front of the Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles, and in front of a witness, John Wolfe, Greenberg alleges that Lowentrout grabbed his rear end very hard and whispered “mmmm” in his ear.

Approximately two months later, on or about February 2011, Greenberg says that Lowentrout made a comment too obscene to print, which is specified in the lawsuit. He claims that Lowentrout made many inappropriate remarks to him when he played for Lowentrout.

Greenberg is represented by Attorney Scott Schutzman, who says, “their biggest argument was after that, he didn’t file a complaint with the Dept of Fair Employment and Housing until 2 years later. The statute of limitations says you have a year to file such a complaint.

“The judge found the harassment was sufficiently continuous to be within the statute, because Lowentrout stalked him 6 or 8 times at his house between Aug. 2012 and January 2013. He also told Greenberg’s class that he had “a porn name,” Abdul Moustaffa. Greenberg told his class he sometimes uses a pseudonym when he worked for people that are less than scrupulous in the music business.” Greenberg never acted in porn.

The effect of the summary judgment motion, says Schutzman, is the case will proceed to trial on Dec. 8th. “And since the punitive damages motion was likewise denied, because the Judge believed the Plaintiff’s argument that the schools did not properly investigate his allegation that Lowentrout’s resume was false. . . which we’ve actually proven in two major respects, “ he explains.

The school did not properly investigate the allegations that Lowentrout had exaggerated his resume, says Schutzman. “I asked Lowentrourt at his deposition whether anyone at the school asked him about the false resume allegations. He said ‘no.’”

“Wendy Baker from Education Management Corporation, which owns the school, also said she did not investigate the resume allegations, and discounted the witness Greenberg said he had to the stalking allegation. “ She felt his mannerisms made him unserious, though she had not met him in person and interviewed him over the phone.

Both men still work for the school, but Lowentrout is no longer Greenberg’s supervisor. The case is set for trial on December 8th, 2014 in Santa Monica before Judge Gerald Rosenberg.

“I’m going to ask the Jury to award Greenberg monetary damages in the amount of $500,000, Schutzman said, “in compensatory damages, plus attorneys fees and punitive damages.”