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A former executive with Hensley Legal Group is suing the personal injury law firm, saying she was fired after refusing her boss’s sexual advances.
Erin Peckinpaugh says firm owner John D. Hensley repeatedly tried to kiss her, asked for personal pictures from a workout challenge she was doing and told her on one occasion that he woke up thinking about her, according to a complaint filed Friday in federal court.
Peckinpaugh said Hensley harassed her and eventually fired her before she could return from maternity leave after she and her partner had a child.
“My client unequivocally denies the allegations,” said Kim Jeselskis, an attorney representing Hensley Legal Group. “Because this matter is subject to pending litigation, we have no further comment.”
Peckinpaugh served as vice president of marketing and corporate responsibility from May 2021 to September 2024, according to court documents in the case, which was originally filed last month in Hamilton Superior Court.
Peckinpaugh was in charge of all in-house marketing and reported directly to Hensley, whose advances began a few months after she was hired, according to the lawsuit. Hensley and Peckinpaugh frequently talked about the upcoming year, and those conversations became more frequent than usual.
“By October 2021 … She was receiving four to six phone calls a day, some days one call per hour,” court documents state.
On May 14, 2022, Hensley tried to kiss Peckinpaugh after walking her to her car from a dinner meeting, court documents state.
She refused, and he called her afterward, asking if they were okay and telling her that “her rejecting him made him want her more … He is the kind of guy that gets what he wants,” according to a charge of discrimination Peckinpaugh filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Documents filed in the case also say Hensley sent Peckinpaugh six bottles of wine as a Christmas present and offered to watch her dogs so he could get to know them.
She said in court papers that the firm’s business grew, and she also received praise for her work.
Peckinpaugh alleges that their working relationship had changed by April 20, 2023, when Hensley became aloof.
In December 2023, Peckinpaugh told Hensley she and her partner were expecting a baby, according to court filings. She gave birth the following June and alleges that she was fired in September, a few days before her scheduled return from maternity leave.
The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission dismissed Peckinpaugh’s discrimination charge and notified her of her right to sue. The agency declined to investigate her claims but did not make a determination about their merits, court filings state.
Peckinpaugh seeks compensation for financial losses, compensatory damages, punitive or liquidated damages, back and front pay, attorney fees and other costs.
The case, filed now in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, is Erin Peckinpaugh v. Hensley Legal Group, PC, 29C01-2609-CT-010840.
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