Ex-Chevron Employee Sues Company Over "Hurt Feelings"

Chevron and its dirty business

​Another dirty scandal is plaguing Chevron, but this one has nothing to do with polluting the Amazon. A judge overturned a jury's $100,000 award to a former Chevron employee who had sued the oil and gas company for gossiping about his passion for prostitution.

According to court documents filed in San Francisco this week, Richard Duste sued Chevron after claiming that an employee told co-workers about Duste's outings to brothels and gentlemen's clubs. After the company's investigation, which resulted in Duste's termination, the same co-worker told clients at a trade show that Duste had been fired over his brothel hobby.

In October 2011, a jury ordered Chevron to pay Duste $100,000 for harming his reputation, and worse "hurting his feelings."

But Duste's feelings were presumably injured again on Monday when U.S. District Judge Maria-Elena James overturned the jury's award, saying Duste hadn't proved that Chevron really damaged his reputation -- and she actually had a really good reason.

Apparently, when third parties at Chevron heard about Duste's entertainment outings, they weren't turned off; rather, one Chevron client testified that he only "wished he had known sooner, because he would have gone to strip clubs with" Duste.

In fact, the client, Ed Zwirn, testified that he would gladly still buy fuel from Duste.

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