A former Panasonic Energy worker reached an undisclosed settlement with the company after alleging they failed to respond to her claims of sexual harassment and retaliation.
Harper Coté, a former apprentice with Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America, filed a suit against the company’s Olathe-based subsidiary earlier this year.
On Aug. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, Judge Taylor Crouse dismissed the discrimination case after both sides reached an undisclosed settlement.
The settlement was reached after a six-and-a-half hour Alternative Dispute Resolution session, where a mediator worked with the two parties to resolve the dispute, according to court documents. The case was dismissed with prejudice, which means it is permanently closed and can’t be re-opened.
Prior to the settlement, the case had a jury trial scheduled for November 2027.
In March, Coté filed the discrimination lawsuit against the company, saying she faced retaliation after reporting multiple instances of sexual harassment by a coworker and a supervisor last year. She was seeking compensation for damages, including actual and punitive damages, for her costs and attorneys’ fees, and for such other equitable relief that the Court deems just and proper.
Panasonic denied Coté’s allegations in court documents.
Attorneys for both Coté and Panasonic Energy did not return requests for comment by the Johnson County Post.
Coté alleged harassment and retaliation from work
Coté was hired at the Panasonic Energy plant in March 2025 as a skilled machine technician apprentice. She alleged that within weeks of being on the job, a coworker began making sexually suggestive remarks to her in front of other people, touching her without her consent and pretending to film her with his phone.
In May 2025, she reported the co-worker’s behavior to the senior manager of apprenticeships, who responded that she should keep engaging with classmates and instructors.
In addition, she alleged her production supervisor also began harassing her in front of other workers by making repeated comments about her body, calling her “honey” and commented that she was tired at work because she was also working at a strip club.
When moved to a different shift, she said she was assigned to work under a supervisor who had previously been charged with rape and aggravated sodomy while working as a Johnson County Sheriff’s deputy.
Panasonic denied all of the allegations, except for news reports that stated her supervisor’s criminal history.
Coté’s said her complaints weren’t taken seriously
While Coté reported her co-worker’s behavior and her concerns with her supervisor’s past, neither was taken seriously, court records stated.
The company didn’t take action for her complaints of harassment by her co-worker until her on-job teacher also reported it, court records stated.
Even after a second complaint was filed, the co-worker “remained employed and continued to harass Plaintiff for approximately six additional weeks” and was later terminated.
In addition, the supervisor who made remarks about her body was placed on administrative leave, but later returned to the job because the company found Coté’s claims were either unsubstantiated or not sexual in nature or degrading, court documents stated.
The mixture of retaliation, HR’s lack of accountability to her claims and a hostile work environment caused Coté to resign from her apprenticeship at Panasonic on Sept. 18, 2025, court documents stated.
Prior to the settlement, Panasonic previously asked for Coté’s requests for compensation for damages to be denied by the court because it “exercised reasonable care and acted in good faith in its efforts to comply with applicable laws prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in employment,” it stated in its response.
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