Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GERALD BRUCE LEE, District Judge. This matter is before the Court on the five-day non-jury trial of Plaintiff Jennifer Taylor’s claims against Defendants Republic Services, Inc., Republic Services of Virginia, LLC, Jason Callaway, Ronald Krall, Douglas Murphy, Christopher Rains and Daniel E. Jameson for hostile work environment and retaliatory discharge pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This case concerns Ms. Taylor’s claims that she was subject to systematic unwelcome sexual harassment by her former employer and co-workers for four years, which ultimately led to her separation of employment. On May 11, 2012, Ms. Taylor filed her Amended Complaint in this Court, asserting the following claims: gender discrimination, sexual harassment and hostile work environment in violation of Title VII (Count I); retaliation, retaliatory discharge and hostile work environment in violation of Title VII (Count II); common law wrongful termination of employment for opposing or resisting criminal conduct (Count III); negligent retention, of employees (Count IV); tortious interference with business expectancy (Count V); common law conspiracy (Count VI); and intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count VII). Ms. Taylor requested compensatory, punitive and equitable relief. At the summary judgment stage, only Counts I, II, III and V remained. On December 20, 2012, the Court granted Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment on Counts I and V of the Amended Complaint, and Partial Summary Judgment on Count II of the Amended Complaint. The Court subsequently granted Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on Count III of the Amended Complaint. Based on the remaining claims, the following issues are before the Court. The first issue is whether Ms. Taylor was subject to a hostile work environment based on her sex in violation of Title VII where she alleges she was subject to disparate travel restrictions, was called a derogatory name by a colleague, was sent a sexually explicit email by a colleague, and was subject to numerous unwelcome sexual advances by her fellow co-workers. The Court holds that Ms. Taylor has not established by a preponderance of the evidence that the work place conduct she complains of was sufficiently severe or pervasive to establish a hostile work environment claim so as to impute liability to Defendants Republic Services, Inc. and Republic Services of Virginia, LLC. The second issue is whether Defendants retaliated against Ms. Taylor for engaging in protected activity in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Court holds that Defendant Republic Services Inc. retaliated against Ms. Taylor when its Vice President of Human Resources terminated Ms. Taylor’s employment forty-two (42) days after she engaged in protected activity. The third issue is whether Ms. Taylor is entitled to compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs and injunctive relief because she has demonstrated that she was injured as a result of Defendants’ discriminatory and retaliatory actions. The Court holds that Ms. Taylor is entitled to (1) compensatory damages, (2) front pay, (3) back pay, and (4) attorneys’ fees and costs against Defendant Republic Services, Inc. I. STANDARD OF REVIEW In a non-jury case, the court must make specific findings of fact and separately state its conclusions of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a)(1). The trial judge has a function of finding the facts, weighing the evidence, and choosing from among conflicting inferences and conclusions those which he considers most reasonable. Penn-Texas Corp. v. Morse, 242 F.2d 243, 247 (7th Cir.1957) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The trial judge has the inherent right to disregard testimony of any witness when satisfied that the witness is not telling the truth, or the testimony is inherently improbable due to inaccuracy, uncertainty, interest, or bias. Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted); see Columbus-Am. Discovery Grp. v. Atl. Mut. Ins. Co., 56 F.3d 556, 567 (4th Cir.1995) (internal quotation omitted) (stating that the fact finder is in a better position to make judgments about the reliability of some forms of evidence, including evaluation of the credibility of witnesses). It is the duty of the trial judge sitting without a jury to appraise the testimony and demeanor of witnesses. See Burgess v. Farrell Lines, Inc., 335 F.2d 885, 889 (4th Cir.1964). To satisfy the demands of Rule 52(a), a trial court must do more than announce statements of ultimate fact. United States ex rel. Belcon, Inc. v. Sherman Constr. Co., 800 F.2d 1321, 1324 (4th Cir.1986) (citation omitted). The court must support its rulings by spelling out the subordinate facts on which it relies. Id. The language of Rule 52 has been construed, not to require a court to make findings on all facts presented or to make detailed evidentiary findings; if the findings are sufficient to support the ultimate conclusion of the court they are sufficient. Nor is it necessary that the trial court make findings asserting the negative of each issue of fact raised. It is sufficient if the special affirmative facts found by the court, construed as a whole, negative each rejected contention. The ultimate test as to the adequacy of the findings will always be whether they are sufficiently comprehensive and pertinent to the issues to provide a basis for decision and whether they are supported by the evidence. Darter v. Greenville Cmty. Hotel Corp., 301 F.2d 70, 75 (4th Cir.1962). This rule does not require that the trial court set out findings on the myriad of factual questions that arise in a case. Golf City, Inc. v. Wilson Sporting Goods, 555 F.2d 426, 433 (5th Cir.1977). The sufficiency of the trial court’s findings depends upon the particular facts of each individual case, and no general rule can govern. Darter, 301 F.2d at 75. II. FINDINGS OF FACT The following are findings of fact made by the Court after having had an opportunity to observe the witnesses, consider the evidence, and weigh the demeanor and credibility of the witnesses. All of the events giving rise to this action took place while Plaintiff Jennifer Taylor worked at Allied Waste Industries, Inc. (“Allied”) and Republic Services of Virginia, LLC (“Republic” or “the Company”), which are solid waste collection, transfer, recycling and disposal companies. In May 2007, Plaintiff Jennifer Taylor began her employment with Allied as the Director of Infrastructure Development for the Northeast Region. At this time, Ms. Taylor worked in Erie, Michigan, but maintained her residence in Toledo, Ohio. In this position, Ms. Taylor was responsible for all real estate transactions and construction projects in the region. In December 2008, Allied merged with Republic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Services, Inc. (“Republic Inc.”). Republic is comprised of four separate regional business operating units or regions. Each region is headed by a senior vice-president of operations who functions as the chief executive officer. Within each region there exists a number of areas devoted to various business units. The areas are headed by area presidents, who each direct their respective business unit with the assistance of general managers. In early 2009, Ms. Taylor assumed the position of Director of Municipal Services for the East Region and relocated to Centreville, Virginia. In this role, Ms. Taylor was responsible for working closely with various districts and divisions within Republic to carry out strategies involving the sale of contracts for trash collection to local governments and businesses in the East Region. She oversaw a team of thirteen municipal sales persons in fourteen states. Ms. Taylor and the Regional Directors of Municipal Sales from three other regions reported indirectly to Daniel Jameson, Vice President of Municipal Services and Government Affairs at Republic. Ms. Taylor’s immediate or dotted-line supervisor was Douglas Murphy, Vice President of Sales for the East Region. Ms. Taylor ultimately reported to Ronald Krall, Senior Vice President for the East Region. Ms. Taylor testified that she first experienced sexual harassment while working at Allied. She attended a work-related social event one evening in April or May 2008 at a restaurant called Ralphie’s in Ohio. Jason Callaway had recently been selected to be the Vice President of Human Resources for the Northeast Region and, during the course of the evening, Ms. Taylor engaged in conversation with Mr. Callaway regarding the neighborhood where she lived as Mr. Callaway was relocating to the Toledo area for his new position. At the conclusion of the evening, Ms. Taylor offered to take Mr. Callaway and Christopher Hill, a colleague at Allied, back to their hotel, which was en route to her home. During the car ride, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Callaway continued to discuss her neighborhood and the school system. Ms. Taylor invited Mr. Callaway to stop by her home next time he was in town. Ms. Taylor was shocked when Mr. Calla-way arrived at her home around 11:30 p.m. that evening. Mr. Callaway stated that he had come over for a brief tour of Ms. Taylor’s home. While Ms. Taylor had suggested that Mr. Callaway could come to see her home and neighborhood on his next visit to Toledo, she was merely offering to show him and his family her home and neighborhood as a possible area to consider as Mr. Callaway and his family relocate to Toledo. Ms. Taylor emphatically denies enticing Mr. Callaway to come to her home that evening for a sexual tryst. Ms. Taylor invited Mr. Callaway into her home in part because of his position in the Company as Vice President of Human Resources. She exchanged small talk with Mr. Callaway and proceeded to give him a brief tour of the first floor of her home, which then was in the midst of renovations. As Ms. Taylor was showing Mr. Callaway the dining area, she noticed that he seemed to be getting uncomfortably close to her. At Mr. Callaway’s insistence, she made him a drink. Mr. Callaway did not want to drink alone, so at his suggestion Ms. Taylor poured herself a drink. Mr. Callaway then asked to see the upstairs level of her home. Ms. Taylor interpreted Mr. Callaway’s request to “go upstairs” as a solicitation for sex. While Mr. Callaway did not make any explicit comments to her or attempt to touch her, Ms. Taylor could discern Mr. Callaway’s purpose and intention. She told Mr. Callaway that he could not see the upstairs level of her home and asked Mr. Callaway to leave. Mr. Callaway left without incident. There was conflicting evidence at trial about whether Ms. Taylor reported this incident to Area President for the East Region, Heath Eddleblute, approximately six to eight weeks later. However, in May or June of 2009, over an after-hours dinner, Ms. Taylor told co-worker Angela Leonard, the East Region Director of Environmental Compliance, that Mr. Calla-way had made an uninvited visit to her home in 2008. The second instance of unwelcomed sexual advances occurred in October 2008 at a Managers’ Conference in Tampa, Florida. The conference was widely attended by Allied managers and staff. Ms. Taylor described an incident with James Van Weelden, an Allied Vice President, at a conference dinner event. Ms. Taylor and Mr. Van Weelden engaged in a work related conversation at the dinner event. Once they arrived at the conference hotel, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Van Weelden sat and talked in an area leading to the entrance of the hotel. Ms. Taylor stated that the conversation was interrupted several times by co-workers walking by on the way into the hotel. Despite the interruptions, Mr. Van Weelden wanted to continue his conversation with Ms. Taylor and he suggested they go to his hotel room as it was “more private” and “more comfortable.” Ms. Taylor agreed to meet Mr. Van Weelden at his hotel room. She testified that she was surprised to learn that Mr. Van Weelden had a double hotel room, rather than a suite. Ms. Taylor stated that she assumed Mr. Van Weelden had a separate seating area away from his bedroom. When she entered the room, Mr. Van Weelden directed Ms. Taylor to his balcony where they could continue their conversation. Ms. Taylor stated that she told Mr. Van Weelden that she felt uncomfortable being in his room. Mr. Van Weelden then proceeded to tell Ms. Taylor that he was a happily married man with a family and that he had never done anything like this before. Mr. Van Weelden told Ms. Taylor that he thought it could be bad for both of them if she shared with anyone that she had come to his hotel room. Ms. Taylor agreed and left the hotel room. Ms. Taylor testified that Mr. Van Weelden did not make any overt sexual advances toward her or touch her, and she did not have any further contact with him that she interpreted as a sexual advance. Over the remainder of her employment, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Van Weelden worked on projects and remained friendly. On occasion, she invited him to lunch, to partake in karaoke and to play golf. Ms. Taylor did not report this incident to management until November 18, 2009. Following the merger of Allied and Republic in December 2008, Ms. Taylor was hired for a new position with Republic Services of Virginia, LLC. Ms. Taylor observed that her new manager, Douglas Murphy, was demanding and a stickler for office hours. He micromanaged her work-related travel and treated her in a condescending manner while in the presence of other managers and staff during meetings. Ms. Taylor was also experiencing issues with the management style of Senior Vice President of Operations, Ronald Krall. Mr. Krall and Mr. Murphy had been Republic, not Allied, employees. Ms. Taylor testified that Mr. Krall began micromanaging her work. She stated that she felt that Mr. Krall’s management style undermined her authority with her subordinates when he questioned her judgment, openly criticized her and fabricated performance issues. Mr. Krall sought to rein in Ms. Taylor’s business marketing travel. He questioned her and other managers about the value of her presence at every out-of-town meeting she attended, as well as meetings she had with her regional counterparts and dotted-line supervisors. Ms. Taylor testified that Mr. Krall and Mr. Murphy severely limited her travel in a way that impacted her performance. In June 2009, Mr. Murphy was very displeased with Ms. Taylor’s performance. He and Mr. Callaway, who was now the Vice President of Human Resources for the East Region, called Ms. Taylor into an office to discuss placing her on a performance improvement plan. Mr. Murphy explained that he had concerns about Ms. Taylor’s attendance at work, her ability to meet deadlines and the accuracy of her work. Ms. Taylor considered the allegations and asked for an opportunity to respond to the performance improvement plan. Mr. Callaway agreed to allow Ms. Taylor the opportunity to refute the claims. Ms. Taylor met with Mr. Callaway and presented information, memoranda and data showing where she traveled, the individuals with whom she met and how these visits advanced company business. Mr. Callaway then spoke to Mr. Murphy and discussed Ms. Taylor’s response to the performance improvement plan and her documentation. After that discussion, Mr. Callaway determined that the performance improvement plan was unjustified and that it would be withdrawn. Ms. Taylor testified that the third incident of unwelcome sexual advances occurred when Mr. Callaway met with her on a Friday afternoon to discuss the performance improvement plan. He told Ms. Taylor that he felt her issues with Mr. Murphy were a result of miscommunication and that the performance improvement plan would be withdrawn. Ms. Taylor testified that after Mr. Callaway gave her the news that the performance improvement plan would be withdrawn, he propositioned her and asked her to have sex with him in an empty office. Ms. Taylor inferred that Mr. Callaway was asking for a sexual reward for having the performance improvement plan withdrawn. Ms. Taylor testified that, throughout the remainder of her employment at Republic, Mr. Callaway continued his unwelcome advances toward her. Nonetheless, Ms. Taylor conducted herself in a professional manner with Mr. Callaway. She met with Mr. Callaway to complain about Mr. Murphy’s treatment of her on various occasions throughout April, May and June of 2009. On October 31, 2009, Ms. Taylor’s boxing gym was hosting a Halloween party for its members. Ms. Taylor and Jody Boyce, a Human Resources Representative, who also attended the gym and worked in her office, agreed to have dinner and attend the Halloween party. Ms. Taylor and Ms. Boyce were acquaintances through work, and Ms. Taylor was aware that Ms. Boyce reported directly to Mr. Callaway. During the dinner conversation, Ms. Taylor told Ms. Boyce that Mr. Callaway had come to her home, unannounced, and made a sexual advance toward her in May 2008. Additionally, Ms. Taylor told Ms. Boyce that Mr. Callaway had propositioned her to go to an empty office to have sex and persistently asked her go to lunch, dinner and the movies with him. Ms. Taylor told Ms. Boyce that she had saved documentation relating to her interactions with Mr. Calla-way in the event that Mr. Callaway tried to interfere with her job or she was terminated. Ms. Boyce stated that she felt that Ms. Taylor was trying to set the company up, and reported the conversation to Angela Leonard, Director of Engineering and Environmental Management for the East Region. Ms. Boyce was aware that Ms. Taylor had previously told Ms. Leonard about Mr. Callaway’s 2008 visit to her home. Ms. Boyce and Ms. Leonard talked about Ms. Taylor’s allegations and they mutually agreed to speak to Mr. Callaway. Thereafter, they met with Mr. Callaway, described Ms. Taylor’s allegations, and suggested that Mr. Callaway report the information to Ronald Krall, Senior Vice President of the East Region. Once Mr. Krall had spoken to Mr. Calla-way, and was in receipt of statements prepared by Ms. Boyce and Ms. Leonard, he contacted Catherine Ellingsen, then Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for the East Region for Republic Inc. to report the information he had received. Mr. Krall then forwarded the statements prepared by Ms. Boyce and Ms. Leonard to Ms. Ellingsen. On November 9, 2009, Ms. Ellingsen traveled from the corporate office for Republic Inc. in Arizona to Virginia to conduct an investigation to determine whether Ms. Taylor was, in fact, attempting to set up the Company or whether Mr. Callaway had acted inappropriately by visiting Ms. Taylor’s home in May 2008. Ms. Ellingsen interviewed Ms. Boyce, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Callaway, Ms. Leonard, Christopher Hill and Ms. Taylor, while Deputy General Counsel Andrew Sweet was present on the telephone. Ms. Taylor was interviewed last, and her interview lasted approximately two hours. Ms. Ellingsen began her interview with Ms. Taylor without stating that her purpose was to investigate a sexual harassment allegation. Instead, Ms. Ellingsen asked Ms. Taylor the open-ended question of whether she had any issues with members of the regional staff. Ms. Taylor testified that she told Ms. Ellingsen about her issues with Mr. Murphy. She told Ms. Ellingsen that she felt Mr. Murphy had given her a hard time regarding her arrival time to the office, restricted her ability to travel and criticized her performance without providing any leadership or guidance at work. Ms. Taylor did not mention Mr. Callaway’s name until Ms. Ellingsen intervened and asked whether Ms. Taylor would be surprised to learn that management had been told that someone in the Company had made unwelcome sexual advances toward her. Despite Ms. Ellingsen asking several questions about the evening in which Mr. Callaway allegedly visited her home in May 2008, Ms. Taylor initially did not want to report the Callaway incident. Ms. Taylor claimed that the evening ended when she dropped Mr. Callaway off at his hotel. She stated that later in the evening Mr. Callaway contacted her on her cell phone with a “come on” line, which she declined. Ms. Taylor did not mention that Mr. Callaway visited her home that evening. Ms. Taylor did, however, mention that Mr. Callaway asked her to lunch, but she declined. Ms. Ellingsen conducted a second interview of Ms. Taylor on November 18, 2009, and at that time Ms. Taylor disclosed the encounter with Mr. Callaway. Ms. Taylor testified that she was reluctant to report the incident because Mr. Callaway was a newly hired high-ranking company official and she had to continue to work with him and other men in the workplace. Ms. Taylor told Ms. Ellingsen that she was upset that Ms. Boyce reported her conversation about Mr. Callaway to management. Ms. Taylor then told Ms. Ellingsen about the details of Mr. Callaway’s visit to her home, namely that he showed up uninvited to her home late in the evening, and sexually propositioned her. Ms. Taylor then described how she was generally treated by men in the workplace. She told Ms. Ellingsen that it was not uncommon for her male colleagues to make sexual advances toward her. Ms. Ellingsen attempted to get more information about these incidents, but Ms. Taylor refused to identify the names of the individuals because, in her view, no one had “crossed the line like Mr. Callaway.” Later in the meeting, Ms. Taylor agreed to provide Ms. Ellingsen with the details of unwelcome sexual advances at Republic involving seven men. Ms. Taylor was afraid to identify the men by name. She' identified each person by letters “A” through “G” and stated that each man made unwelcome sexual advances or expressed interest in her, which she interpreted as a sexual advance or interest in having sex with her although in some instances the words “I want to have sex with you” were not explicitly stated. Ms. Taylor described several incidents that had occurred with Mr. Callaway, Mr. Van Weelden, Mr. Pickens, Mr. Eddleblute and two other unidentified male colleagues. Ms. Taylor did, however, tell Ms. Ellingsen that these individuals were not her direct or indirect supervisors. Despite this information, Ms. Ellingsen was unable to ascertain the identity of these individuals. Ultimately, Ms. Ellingsen was unsure about what occurred at Ms. Taylor’s home in 2008. Nevertheless, she concluded that Mr. Callaway, as Vice President of Human Resources for the East Region, exhibited poor judgment by visiting Ms. Taylor’s home late at night, uninvited, after a work-related event. Ms. Ellingsen recommended that Mr. Callaway be disciplined. Shortly thereafter, Ronald Krall issued Mr. Callaway a written disciplinary memorandum reprimanding him for his unwelcome contact with Ms. Taylor at her home. Ms. Ellingsen was concerned that Ms. Taylor would continue to have to deal directly with Mr. Callaway on personnel matters following the reprimand. Therefore, she told Ms. Taylor that in the future she should contact her, and not Mr. Calla-way, if she had any concerns relating to her employment. Ms. Ellingsen directed Mr. Callaway that he was to have no responsibility or contact with Ms. Taylor about human resources matters going forward as Ms. Ellingsen would personally handle Ms. Taylor’s human resources needs. Despite this directive, evidence adduced at trial demonstrated that Mr. Callaway continued to be involved in employment issues associated with Ms. Taylor. Mr. Callaway continued to review matters with Ms. Taylor’s supervisors and was copied on various emails pertaining to Ms. Taylor. Ms. Taylor did not contact Ms. Ellingsen regarding any workplace concerns until August 12, 2011. In June 2010, Christopher Rains became the Vice President of Sales for the East Region, replacing Douglas Murphy as Ms. Taylor’s supervisor. At this time, Ms. Taylor had not only met, but exceeded her 2010 company revenue goals for retention and net new sales, and she had successfully participated in the development of the Customer Relationship Management System (“CRMS2”) tool and training. Mr. Rains testified that Ms. Taylor’s role as the Municipal Director of Sales was to influence her indirect reports without formal authority and to be the right hand of the area presidents as it relates to market strategy and organizational design. Mr. Rains stated that he thought that Ms. Taylor was lacking in this area, and she had a number of deficiencies, including that she (1) repeatedly failed to meet deadlines, (2) had conflicts with her subordinates, (8) struggled to get “buy in” from other managers, (4) had poor organizational skills, (5) had difficulty analyzing pro formas, (6) struggled to establish priorities, and (7) failed to regularly follow up with him during his supervision. Mr. Rains testified that he thought Ms. Taylor’s needs could be managed, so he gave her more direction and sent her to a management course. He did not note that his initial concerns about Ms. Taylor led him to consider placing her on a performance improvement plan or terminating her employment. Turning back to Ms. Taylor’s hostile work environment claim, Ms. Taylor testified about a fourth incident with a male Republic manager making unwelcome sexual advances toward her. In September 2010, Ms. Taylor accepted an invitation to attend the Ryder Cup in Wales, U.K. with Otto Environmental Services (“Otto”), a preferred vendor for Republic. Steve Stradtman, Chief Executive Officer of Otto, who at the time was Ms, Taylor’s boyfriend and is now her husband, asked her to go to the event as his guest. Robert Pickens, Republic’s Vice President of Special Waste, and Ms. Taylor both attended the Ryder Cup Golf Tournament as Otto’s guests. Until this time, Ms. Taylor enjoyed a friendly relationship with Mr. Pickens. Ms. Taylor testified that at a dinner, Mr. Pickens sat next to her. During the conversation, Ms. Taylor stated that Mr. Pickens made sexually explicit comments to her throughout the two and a half hour dinner that were both insulting and embarrassing to her. At trial, Mr. Pickens flatly denied making any sexually explicit comments to her during dinner. Ms. Taylor did not tell Mr. Stradtman about Mr. Pickens’s sexually explicit remarks at or following the event. Ms. Taylor did not report this incident to management or Ms. Ellingsen. Following the Ryder Cup incident, Ms. Taylor continued to work on projects with Mr. Pickens. She even had what she described as “playful banter” with Mr. Pick-ens in emails after the 2010 Ryder Cup. In one email, Ms. Taylor referred to Mr. Pickens as the “nicest, sweetest, most successful man in the world ©.” In another email, she referred to him as “1st in [her] book:).” Ms. Taylor now, however, takes issue with one statement that Mr. Pickens made in an email dated August 15, 2011 where he writes that he will be her “huckleberry.” The final incident of sexual harassment occurred during a Februai’y 2011 General Managers’ Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Ms. Taylor contends that Republic Manager, Keith Cordesman, called her a “fucking bitch” during a bean-bag toss game. She contends that she overheard the comment when Mr. Cordesman was talking with a group of people not involved in the game approximately 20-25 feet away from her across the field. While Ms. Taylor did not immediately report this alleged comment to management, she did subsequently inform Mr. Rains that she believed Cordesman had called her a “bitch.” Mr. Rains reported the allegation to Mr. Cordesman’s supervisor, Area President Heath Eddleblute. Mr. Eddleblute confronted Mr. Cordesman, who denied making the comment. In February 2011, Ms. Taylor received her 2010 evaluation from Mr. Rains. He rated her performance as “not meeting expectations.” The review noted Ms. Taylor’s struggles to influence people (get their “buy-in”) and with organizational issues, but also noted Ms. Taylor’s strengths in communications and presentation. Following the annual review, Mr. Rains increased his involvement with Ms. Taylor so that she could regain her good standing within the Company. He offered assistance to Ms. Taylor so that she could improve her performance, including having Republic pay for her to attend a project management class so that she could further build her skill set. Republic would often offer professional development to those employees who needed coaching or tools to be successful. Once Republic determines that the employee neither has the skillset nor the desire to do his job, the employee is placed on a performance improvement plan where he is formally warned that if his performance does not improve he may be terminated. Initially, Ms. Taylor’s performance improved. She was meeting deadlines, and Mr. Rains was relatively pleased with Ms. Taylor’s progress. However, Mr. Rains testified that by mid-June 2011, Ms. Taylor’s performance had regressed. She was missing deadlines and was not communicating with him or her team as frequently as she had in the past, which gave Mr. Rains cause for concern. Mr. Rains was contemplating placing Ms. Taylor on a performance improvement plan when he learned of a conversation Ms. Taylor had with area presidents, Drew Isenhour and Dean DiValerio, without his consent. According to Ms. Taylor, Mr. Rains suggested changes in the field reporting structure. In response to this conversation, Ms. Taylor immediately contacted Shawn Brady, Mr. Isenhour, and Mr. DiValerio to discuss how the proposed change would impact their positions. Mr. Rains had not intended to share his idea, which was in the consideration stage with managers. Ms. Taylor told Mr. Rains that she had spoken with Mr. Brady, Mr. Isenhour and Mr. DiValerio about the proposed changes and shared their collective disapproval of the proposed plan. Mr. Rains testified that he was astonished that Ms. Taylor had spoken to the area presidents without first speaking to him about a proposal which neither Mr. Rains nor Mr. Krall had the authority to implement. . On August 11, 2011, Mr. Krall sent individual emails to Ms. Taylor and other Republic employees whose positions involved travel, reminding them to use the travel calendar. Mr. Callaway was copied on the email. When Ms. Taylor did use the travel calendar, Mr. Krall questioned whether Ms. Taylor’s attendance at a particular conference added any value. On August 12, 2011, Ms. Taylor emailed Ms. Ellingsen stating that she suspected retaliation and discrimination from Mr. Rains as a result of the 2008 incident with Mr. Callaway, and she feared that each day she went to work she would either be terminated or humiliated. She spoke with Ms. Ellingsen later that day regarding her email. During the phone call, Ms. Ellingsen asked Ms. Taylor for information about the basis of her suspicion. Ms. Taylor discussed a variety of issues, including her belief that Mr. Rains did not appropriately value her performance, that Mr. Krall micromanaged her, and that she was treated differently from her region counterparts in terms of her ability to travel for her job. She told Ms. Ellingsen that she felt as though Mr. Callaway placed a target on her back. Despite Ms. Ellingsen’s assurance that Mr. Callaway would not be involved in her personnel matters, Ms. Taylor stated she had reason to believe that he remained involved in her personnel matters. While Ms. Taylor had not met with Mr. Callaway directly about her human resources needs, she noted that Mr. Callaway was listed as a recipient on emails pertaining to her. She inferred that supervisors would not need to send Mr. Callaway information about her unless he had a role in her personnel matters. Additionally, Ms. Taylor forwarded Ms. Ellingsen three emails, which she believed supported her suspicions of disparate treatment. The first email, dated December 2, 2010, involved an email exchange between Mr. Krall, Mr. Rains, Mr. Jameson and Gary Sova, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, questioning Ms. Taylor’s attendance at a conference in Denver, Colorado, specifically asking why the conference was being handled by someone in the East Region when it could have been handled by others. Ms. Taylor found this email to be an example of Mr. Krall’s hostility toward her. The second email, dated August 3, 2011, involved a discussion between Ms. Taylor and her dotted line supervisor, Daniel Jameson, regarding the Recycle Bank Program. Although Ms. Taylor did not think that Mr. Jameson was trying to get her fired, she was upset with the tone that Mr. Jameson took in the email. The third email, dated August 11, 2011, was sent from Mr. Krall to Ms. Taylor reminding her to use the travel calendar when traveling. According to Ms. Taylor, the email was retaliatory because Mr. Krall copied Mr. Callaway on the message. As a final example of discrimination, Ms. Taylor told Ms. Ellingsen that at the General Managers’ Conference in February 2011, her colleague, Keith Cordesman called her a “fucking bitch” during a beanbag toss game. Following the call with Ms. Taylor, Ms. Ellingsen looked into Ms. Taylor’s allegations that her travel was restricted as compared to her male counterparts in other regions. As to Ms. Taylor’s concerns about harassment and retaliation, Ms. Ellingsen decided, without investigating, that Ms. Taylor’s complaints had no merit. Ms. Ellingsen did not speak with Mr. Jameson or Mr. Krall about Ms. Taylor’s concerns that they may have known about her prior sexual harassment complaint and whether Ms. Taylor was being retaliated against by management. Ms. Ellingsen testified that, in her judgment, there was no need to investigate the remainder of Ms. Taylor’s concerns because there were no allegations that could reasonably be considered retaliation, discrimination or harassment. Without investigating Ms. Taylor’s allegations of retaliation, Ms. Ellingsen advised Ms. Taylor of her belief that Ms. Taylor’s concerns were largely rooted in her dislike of her supervisors’ management styles. Ms. Ellingsen testified that she then discussed Ms. Taylor’s perceptions. First, she discussed with Ms. Taylor whether some type of intervention with Ms. Taylor’s supervisors may help resolve Ms. Taylor’s concerns. As she thought aloud, Ms. Ellingsen offered three options to Ms. Taylor: (1) she could remain in her current position and work out any frustrations she has; (2) Ms. Ellingsen could find her a different position within the Company in a different region; or (3) she could resign and leave the Company with a severance package. The parties dispute whether Ms. Taylor immediately rejected the first option. Ms. Ellingsen and Ms. Taylor agreed to give these and other options more thought and reconnect in the next few weeks. Around August 18, 2011, Mr. Rains contacted Ms. Ellingsen to discuss moving Ms. Taylor from a professional development program to a formal performance improvement due to her performance issues. Following this discussion, Ms. Ellingsen worked with Mr. Rains on scheduling a performance improvement process discussion he intended to have with Ms. Taylor on August 29, 2011. In preparation for the meeting with Ms. Taylor, Mr. Rains sent an email to Ms. Ellingsen, Mr. Krall and Mr. Callaway on August 25, 2011 detailing the basis of his concerns regarding Ms. Taylor’s performance. The email outlined concerns that Mr. Rains had not previously discussed with Ms. Ellingsen. Mr. Rains was upset about circumstances that occurred when Ms. Taylor attended the “WasteCon” conference, a national conference for the waste industry, on August 22-25, 2011. The conference was scheduled to begin on Monday, August 22, 2011. Ms. Taylor told Mr. Rains that she was leaving for the conference on Sunday, August 21, 2011. However, she actually left for the conference on Friday afternoon, August 19, 2011. When asked, Ms. Taylor told Mr. Rains that she left early because Mr. Jameson asked her to help set up the Company’s booth. It was later revealed that Mr. Jameson did not ask Ms. Taylor to leave early to set up the booth rather, she volunteered to do it. Mr. Rains was also upset with Ms. Taylor because on Friday, August 19, 2011, Ms. Taylor was participating in a conference call on her cell phone. While the call was ongoing, Ms. Taylor became disconnected. Ms. Taylor was also to host a conference call with the Ohio Regional Director while she was at the conference on August 23, 2011, that she ultimately missed. At trial, Ms. Taylor explained that at the time of the conference call she was engaged in a conversation with a customer. She decided on her own, without telling Mr. Rains, that she need not participate in the conference call because she “did not see much value” in it. Following the conversation between Ms. Ellingsen and Mr. Rains, Ms. Ellingsen instructed him to go forward with the meeting with Ms. Taylor, and instructed him to advise Ms. Taylor to take the remainder of the day off if she raised issues with which he was unfamiliar. On August 29, 2011, Mr. Rains met with Ms. Taylor for their previously scheduled meeting to discuss the issues he perceived with her performance. At this time, Mr. Rains was not aware of Ms. Ellingsen’s 2009 investigation or Ms. Taylor’s August 12, 2011 email to Ms. Ellingsen asserting allegations of harassment, discrimination and retaliation. At the meeting, Mr. Rains told Ms. Taylor that she had missed numerous deadlines, missed the conference calls scheduled on August 19, 2011 and August 23, 2011, and accused her of being untruthful about being asked to set up the Company’s exhibit booth at WasteCon. During their conversation, Ms. Taylor told Mr. Rains that she did not believe that he was retaliating against her. Rather, Ms. Taylor told Mr. Rains that she believed he was being used as a pawn by Mr. Krall and Mr. Callaway to retaliate against her. Consequently, Mr. Rains directed Ms. Taylor to take the rest of the day off and that Ms. Ellingsen would be in contact with her. After Ms. Taylor was sent home that day she frantically emailed Ms. Ellingsen expressing her disappointment in not hearing from her sooner. Ms. Taylor also explained that Mr. Rains had sent her home from work following her meeting with him that morning. Throughout the day, Ms. Taylor and Ms. Ellingsen had a series of telephone conversations. Ms. Taylor reiterated her previous retaliation claims, and raised several new claims. In addition to the matters Ms. Taylor complained about earlier, she also explained that she was being discriminated against by not being paid a synergy bonus, which she claimed, was awarded to her male counterparts in the West, Midwest and South regions. The next day, Ms. Taylor contacted Mr. Rains and Ms. Ellingsen by email to determine when she could return to work. Mr. Rains told Ms. Taylor that she should plan on staying home the following day, and that Ms. Ellingsen would be in touch with her. Following their second discussion, Ms. Ellingsen investigated two matters. First, Ms. Ellingsen looked into Ms. Taylor’s allegations regarding the synergy bonus. She confirmed that the vice presidents of the East and West Regions had previously determined that the municipal sales directors in their regions would not be eligible to receive synergy bonuses. Therefore, contrary to Ms. Taylor’s contention, her male counterpart in the West region did not receive a synergy bonus. Second, Ms. Ellingsen explored Mr. Rains’s concern that Ms. Taylor was dishonest about her reason for leaving work early on August 19, 2011. She spoke with Mr. Jame-son, who confirmed that Ms. Taylor was not asked to leave work on Friday to help set up the Company’s booth at the Waste-Con conference. Mr. Jameson provided Ms. Ellingsen a copy of the memorandum he had sent to Ms. Taylor and other employees who were to attend the WasteCon conference advising them that he had hired a third-party contractor to set up the booth. Ms. Ellingsen confronted Ms. Taylor with this information, and Ms. Taylor acknowledged that she was not asked to physically erect the exhibitor display booth. Rather, Ms. Taylor stated, she volunteered to purchase supplies, candy and gifts for customers who visited the booth as she had done in previous years. Ms. Ellingsen advised Ms. Taylor that, based on her having been untruthful about her justification for leaving early on August 19, 2011, the second option that had been proffered — of finding Ms. Taylor a different position within the Company — was no longer on the table. Ms. Ellingsen and Ms. Taylor spoke by telephone to discuss the WasteCon exhibit booth timing issue. On September 6, 2011, Ms. Ellingsen forwarded a severance agreement to Ms. Taylor for her review and signature. Ms. Taylor was very concerned about how it would look if she abruptly left the Company without any notice to her customers, subordinate sales staff, and colleagues. She was also concerned about her prospects for future employment. Ms. Taylor asked Ms. Ellingsen to allow her to participate in drafting an out-of-office message for her work email account. The following day, Ms. Taylor drafted an automatic reply for her work email account announcing that she was leaving the Company on September 23, 2011. Ms. Taylor followed with an email to Ms. Ellingsen on September 8, 2011 acknowledging receipt of the severance agreement and telling Ms. Ellingsen that she did not understand why she was being terminated, and that she felt she was being further retaliated against by Republic after she had reported retaliation. Ms. Taylor subsequently filed an EEOC Charge on September 9, 2011 asserting discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment claims. Ms. Taylor ultimately declined to accept Republic’s severance package because she did not want to lose her job and the severance package required her to sign a legal release of all claims against Republic. The proposed severance package was approximately $50,000. Ms. Taylor’s last day of employment was on September 23, 2011. At trial, Ms. Taylor testified that she was aware of Republic’s anti-harassment policy and had even taken several sexual harassment training sessions. According to Republic’s anti-harassment policy, any employee who believes that they have been subjected to any form of harassment prohibited by its policy are directed to contact their immediate supervisors, or “a management representative with whom the employee is comfortable reporting the conduct, such as the Site or Area Manager, the Regional Human Resources Manager, a Corporate Human Resources Manager, or by calling the AWARE Line.” The policy goes on to state that Republic will not take any adverse action against an individual who makes a good faith report of harassment or discrimination. Ms. Taylor testified that, as a result of her losing her job, she feels victimized and hopeless. Psychiatrist Ryan S. Shugarman, M.D. testified that as a result of the adverse experiences Ms. Taylor experienced at Republic, she suffers from major depressive disorder, single episode mild adjustment disorder with anxiety, and the exacerbation of an eating disorder. Ms. Taylor acknowledged that her post-termination job search was difficult due to the non-compete agreement she signed after the Allied-Republic merger. Ms. Taylor was not able to find a job in the waste management industry. At the time she left Republic, Ms. Taylor’s annual base salary was $170,550. Ms. Taylor testified that had she remained at Republic until the end of 2011, she would have received an additional $52,000 bonus, $18,000 in stock options, and between $6,000 and $7,000 from her employee stock purchase plan. Ms. Taylor searched for a comparable new job to replace the income she earned at Republic. After searching for a non-waste related sales position for ten months, she ultimately found a position in an unrelated industry making substantially less money than she earned at Republic. At the time of trial, Ms. Taylor was employed by Vector Disease Control as a sales representative earning a base salary of $80,000 per year. III. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW A. HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT The first issue before the Court is whether Ms. Taylor has met her burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence on her claim for hostile work environment where she alleges she was subject to disparate travel restrictions, called a derogatory name by a colleague, was sent a sexually explicit email by a colleague, and was subject to numerous unwelcome sexual advances by her fellow co-workers. The Court finds for Defendants Republic and Republic Inc. on this claim because Ms. Taylor has not demonstrated by a preponderance of evidence that several of the alleged incidents actually occurred. As to those incidents that the Court finds did occur, the Court finds, considering the evidence as a whole, that the alleged unwelcome conduct is not sufficiently severe or pervasive as to result in a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Furthermore, Defendants have sufficiently demonstrated that they exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any allegedly sexually harassing behaviors and that Ms. Taylor unreasonably failed to take advantage of the corrective or preventive opportunities available. Ms. Taylor alleges that Defendants impermissibly discriminated against her on the basis of sex, in violation of Title VII, through maintaining a hostile work environment. At trial, Ms. Taylor testified that the following incidents support her claim for hostile work environment: (a) she was treated differently than her male counterparts in terms of travel; (b) she was called a “fucking bitch” by colleague Keith Cordesman; (c) she was sent a sexually suggestive email by Robert Pickens; and (d) she was subject to unwelcome propositions for sex by Jason Callaway, James Van Weelden and Robert Pickens. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it “an unlawful employment practice for an employer ... to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1). Although Title VII does not mention sexual harassment, the Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit have recognized harassment as actionable under Title VII under a “hostile work environment” theory. Ocheltree v. Scollon Productions, Inc., 335 F.3d 325, 331 (4th Cir.2003). A Title VII harassment claim under the “hostile work environment” theory is established upon proof that “the workplace is permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim’s employment and create an abusive working environment.” Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc., 510 U.S. 17, 21, 114 S.Ct. 367, 126 L.Ed.2d 295 (1993) (internal quotations and citations omitted). Thus, in order to prevail under a hostile work environment theory, “a female plaintiff must show that the offending conduct (1) was unwelcome, (2) was based on her sex, (3) was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter conditions of her employment and create an abusive work environment, and (4) was imputable to her employer.” Ocheltree, 335 F.3d at 334. Simple teasing, sporadic use of abusive language, offhand comments, jokes related to protected status, and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious) will not amount to discriminatory changes in the terms and conditions of employment. Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 788, 118 S.Ct. 2275, 141 L.Ed.2d 662 (1998). Likewise, general complaints of rude treatment are not sufficient to sustain a hostile work environment claim. See, e.g., Baqir v. Principi, 434 F.3d 733, 747 (4th Cir.2006). 1. Unwelcome Conduct “The gravamen of any sexual harassment claim is that the alleged sexual advances were ‘unwelcome.’ ” Meritor Sav. Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 68, 106 S.Ct. 2399, 91 L.Ed.2d 49 (1986). The evidence adduced at trial demonstrates that Ms. Taylor made complaints, albeit delayed, to numerous colleagues regarding (a) Mr. Callaway’s 2008 visit to her home, (b) Mr. Callaway’s alleged proposition for sex in 2009, (c) her interaction with Mr. Van Weelden at the Managers’ Conference in 2008, (d) Mr. Pickens’s alleged explicit remarks to her during a dinner at the Ryder Cup in 2010, (e) Mr. Pickens’s “huckleberry” comment in 2010, (f) Mr. Cordesman’s alleged comment at a 2011 conference and (g) her contention that her male counterparts traveled without restrictions. Ms. Taylor, therefore, has sufficiently satisfied this element. Ms. Taylor’s distaste for this conduct, however, is not dispositive of whether the conduct alleged was based upon her sex or was sufficiently severe and pervasive to create a hostile working environment. 2. Based on Sex “The critical issue [in the ‘because of sex’ inquiry] is whether members of one sex are exposed to disadvantageous terms or conditions of employment to which members of the other sex are not exposed.” Ocheltree, 335 F.3d at 331 (quoting Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Servs., 523 U.S. 75, 80, 118 S.Ct. 998, 140 L.Ed.2d 201 (1998)) (internal citations omitted). Thus, the conduct underlying a sexual harassment claim need not be sexual in nature as long as the conduct is directed at the employee because of his or her sex. Of the incidents that occurred in this case, some of the conduct was sexual in nature, while other conduct was not. Mr. Callaway’s visit to Ms. Taylor’s home, Mr. Callaway’s alleged propositions for sex, Ms. Taylor’s interaction with Mr. Van Weelden at the Managers’ Conference, Mr. Pickens’s alleged explicit comments at the Ryder Cup, and Mr. Cordesman’s alleged comment about Ms. Taylor were directed at her because of her sex. Ms. Taylor, however, has not demonstrated that she was subject to travel restrictions because of her sex. At trial, Ms. Taylor acknowledged that each of Republic’s regions had different budget and travel policies. She also conceded that the East Region did not enjoy an unlimited travel budget, and that Mr. Krall only wanted employees to attend out-of-town conferences and meetings if their attendance added value. The record suggests that Mr. Krall was a stickler on the use of the travel calendar. On August 11, 2011, he sent individual emails to Ms. Taylor and other employees reminding them to consistently use the travel calendar. Ms. Taylor’s male counterparts in other regions did not have the same travel restrictions because each region operated autonomously. Therefore, the vice president of each region had discretion to operate their budget and travel policies as they wished. Ms. Taylor has not demonstrated that other male colleagues at the director-level in the East Region were able to travel more freely than she or that they were subject to less scrutiny on their attendance at out-of-town meetings and conferences. Thus, Ms. Taylor’s claim that her travel was restricted based upon her sex is unsubstantiated. Likewise, Ms. Taylor has not demonstrated that Mr. Pickens’s comment that he would be her “huckleberry” was directed to her because of her sex. In her deposition, Ms. Taylor testified that she did not find any of the email exchanges between herself and Mr. Pickens to be sexually harassing. However, at trial she contradicted her prior testimony and now declares that this comment “crossed the line.” It is helpful to understand the context of this statement. As the WasteCon conference approached in August 2011, Ms. Taylor sent out an email to a group, which included Mr. Pickens, advertising the “must-attend” events at the conference. One such event was an Elvis Presley impersonator contest. Ms. Taylor asked the group if Mr. Pickens “would be [their] Elvis.” Mr. Pickens replied only to Ms. Taylor stating that he would be her “huckleberry.” Mr. Pickens testified that he was quoting a classic line from the movie, “Tombstone ” which means, “I accept your challenge.” Being a fan of the movie, Mr. Pickens stated that he felt the comment was appropriate based upon the challenge he had been given. Ms. Taylor produced no evidence to the contrary to suggest that this comment was sexual in nature or directed at her because of her sex. Accordingly, Mr. Pickens’s “huckleberry” comment cannot support Ms. Taylor’s claim for hostile work environment. 3. Sufficiently Severe or Pervasive The “severe or pervasive” element of a hostile work environment claim “has both subjective and objective components.” Ocheltree, 335 F.3d at 333. First, the plaintiff must show that she “subjectively perceivefd] the environment to be abusive.” Harris, 510 U.S. at 21-22,114 S.Ct. 367. Next, the plaintiff must show that “a reasonable person in the plaintiffs position” would have found the environment objectively hostile or abusive. Oncale, 523 U.S. at 81-82,118 S.Ct. 998. While the subjective test of whether the plaintiff actually found the environment abusive may be readily satisfied in employment discrimination suits, the Supreme Court has acknowledged that the boundaries of what constitutes an objectively discriminatorily hostile work environment is not “a mathematically precise test.” Harris, 510 U.S. at 22, 114 S.Ct. 367. The “objective severity of harassment should be judged from the perspective of a reasonable person in the plaintiffs position, considering all the circumstances.” Oncale, 523 U.S. at 81, 118 S.Ct. 998 (internal quotations and citations omitted). This objective test requires examination of the totality of the circumstances, including “the frequency of the discriminatory [or retaliatory] conduct; its severity; whether it is physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance; and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance.” Harris, 510 U.S. at 23, 114 S.Ct. 367. As stated above, the only alleged incidents attributable to Ms. Taylor’s gender are the following: (a) her interaction with Mr. Van Weelden at a Managers’ Conference in Tampa, Florida; (b) Mr. Pickens’s alleged explicit comments at the Ryder Cup; (c) Keith Cordesman alleged comment made during a Managers’ Conference; (d) Mr. Callaway’s visit to Ms. Taylor’s home in 2008; and (e) Mr. Calla-way’s alleged proposition for sex. The Court will proceed to examine the context of each allegation below. a. Interaction with Mr. Van Weelden at a Managers’ Conference in Tampa, Florida Ms. Taylor alleges that following a dinner at the Managers’ Conference in Tampa, Florida in 2008 that she and James Van Weelden, a Vice President at Allied, shared a business conversation about landfills. Ms. Taylor and Mr. Van Weelden, along with others, left the restaurant and walked back to their hotel. Along the walkway to the hotel, they took a seat and continued their conversation. As co-workers walked past them, their conversation was interrupted a number of times. As a result, Mr. Van Weelden and Ms. Taylor decided to continue the conversation in his hotel room, which would be more private. Ms. Taylor testified that she assumed that Mr. Van Weelden had a suite with a sitting area where the business conversation would continue. Ms. Taylor went to Mr. Van Weelden’s hotel room. When she arrived, she was surprised to learn that Mr. Van Weelden’s room was not a business suite. Rather, it was a standard hotel room with two double beds, Mr. Van Weelden then invited Ms. Taylor to sit on the balcony and continue the conversation. After an awkward conversation about his wife and kids, Ms. Taylor left the room. She testified that Mr. Van Weelden did not make any appropriate comments, did not ask her for sex and did not touch her. Ms. Taylor testified that she willingly continued the discussion because she knew that Mr. Van Weelden was related to the founder of the company, and she wanted to demonstrate her knowledge of the business and build her reputation with management. She subsequently engaged in friendly emails with Mr. Van Weelden inviting him to several outings, including lunch, karaoke and golf. Ms. Taylor did not raise this incident with anyone until her second interview with Ms. Ellingsen on November 18, 2009. When she did discuss this incident, she refused to identify Mr. Van Weelden by name. b. Mr. Pickens’s Alleged Explicit Comments at the Ryder Cup Ms. Taylor had a friendly relationship with Senior Vice President of Waste for Republic, Robert Pickens. Although she did not work with Mr. Pickens, Ms. Taylor often confided in him about the issues she had with Mr. Murphy and the 2009 investigation initiated by Ms. Ellingsen. She asked for his help in working with Mr. Murphy because Mr. Pickens had worked with Mr. Murphy for many years. They often engaged in what Ms. Taylor described as “playful banter.” Ms. Taylor testified that the email exchanges would get “edgy” but she did not make much of the emails because they were always “joking around.” In September 2010, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Pickens both attended the Ryder Cup Golf Tournament in Wales. Ms. Taylor was dating Steven Stradtman, the CEO of Otto, and was invited to attend the event as his guest. Ms. Taylor alleges that she sat next to Mr. Pickens at a group dinner during the Ryder Cup during which Mr. Pickens made numerous sexually explicit statements to her about what he would do to her sexually that spanned the two-and-a-half hour dinner. Ms. Taylor testified that Mr. Pickens made these explicit statements to her as her boyfriend, Mr. Stradtman, sat across the table from her. Yet, Ms. Taylor and her now-husband testified that she never once told Mr. Pickens to stop making the comments. Nor did she ask to switch seats with another guest or excuse herself from the dinner table. Ms. Taylor testified that she did not tell Mr. Stradtman about Mr. Pickens’s sexually explicit statements until months after the event. Ms. Taylor had business dealings with Mr. Pickens after the Ryder Cup and she continued her “playful banter” with Mr. Pickens in emails following the event. In one email, Ms. Taylor referred to Mr. Pickens as the “nicest, sweetest, most successful man in the world ©.” In another email, she referred to him as “1st in [her] book;).” Ms. Taylor did not come forward to report the explicit comments allegedly made by Mr. Pickens’s until her second interview with Ms. Ellingsen on November 18, 2009. Again, Ms. Taylor did not identify Mr. Pickens by name or provide enough details about the incident for Ms. Ellingsen to identify the alleged perpetrator. c. Mr. Cordesman’s Alleged Comment Ms. Taylor contends that Republic Manager, Keith Cordesman, called her a “fucking bitch” in February 2011 during a beanbag toss game at a General Managers’ conference in Phoenix, Arizona. She claims that she overheard the comment when Mr. Cordesman was talking with a group of people not involved in the game approximately 20-25 feet away from her across the field. Ms. Taylor reported this incident to her supervisor Chris Rains and his boss, Heath Eddleblute. She later reported this incident to Ms. Ellingsen on August 12, 2011. d. Mr. Callaway’s Visit to Ms. Taylor’s Home Ms. Taylor testified that Jason Calla-way, then-Vice President of Human Resources for Allied, showed up, uninvited, to her home late at night in May or June 2008 following a work-related dinner. Mr. Callaway asked Ms. Taylor for a tour of her home. While giving Mr. Callaway a tour, they exchanged small talk and she made them both drinks. When Mr. Calla-way asked to see the second level of her home, Ms. Taylor told him “no” and asked him to leave. In her deposition, Ms. Taylor conceded that she could have asked him to leave at any time, and acknowledged that Mr. Callaway did not make any appropriate comments or touch her in any way. Ms. Taylor did not immediately report Mr. Callaway’s unannounced visit and sexual proposition. There is conflicting