EEOC FILES SEVEN SUITS AGAINST
HARASSMENT
Agency
Enforces the Law in Filings Around the Country
WASHINGTON –
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed seven
lawsuits against various employers across the country, charging them with harassment.
This multi-state action by the EEOC should reinforce to employers that
harassment – on all bases – is a violation of federal law.
“As the nation has seen over the
past nine months, harassment at work can affect individuals for years in their
careers and livelihoods,” said EEOC Acting Chair Victoria A. Lipnic. “There are
many consequences that flow from harassment not being addressed in our nation’s
workplaces. These suits filed by the EEOC around the country are a reminder
that a federal enforcement action by the EEOC is potentially one of those
consequences.”
She continued, “I commend our
investigative and trial teams, and our Office of General Counsel, for their
work on these important cases. I also commend the individuals who came forward,
for bringing their stories to the EEOC in the first place.”
The EEOC’s Birmingham District
Office sued Master
Marine, Inc., a Gulf Coast shipbuilder, for racial and same-sex sexual
harassment for allowing one of its lead welders to sexually and racially harass
a male Asian-American welder at its Bayou La Batre, Alabama, headquarters. In
addition, Master Marine subjected three African-American employees to racial
harassment, the EEOC said. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a supervisor
repeatedly referred to the welder in racially derogatory terms, including
making insensitive remarks regarding the victim’s Asian heritage. In addition, the
suit alleges that the supervisor repeatedly made unwanted sexual comments and
inappropriately touched the welder. The EEOC also charged that the harasser
discriminated against three black employees by subjecting them to racial
harassment. The alleged harasser, who
also supervised these employees, reportedly referred to them as
“n----r,” “monkey,” and “boy.”
The agency’s Phoenix District Office and its Albuquerque Area Office sued
Real Time Staffing Services, Inc., doing business as Select Staffing
in Albuquerque, for allowing a group of female employees to be subjected to
sexual harassment while they were working at the Inspection of Public Records
Act Unit of the Albuquerque Police Department. The EEOC said that the women
were subjected to pervasive unwelcome sexual comments, including comments about
their breasts and buttocks; referred to as “prostitutes” and “sluts”; and
subjected to unwelcome touching.
The agency’s Dallas District Office sued
G2
Corporation, doing business as Screen Tight, for subjecting a female worker
in Corsicana, Texas to unwelcome physical and verbal sexual harassment at the
hands of her production manager and another high-level corporate officer. The EEOC alleges that the manager followed the
worker, who was tasked with cleaning bathrooms, into both the men’s and women’s
restrooms while making sexual comments and attempting to force himself on her. The
EEOC said that the vice president of the company also made graphic,
intimidating sexual comments to her.
The
EEOC’s St. Louis District Office sued New Prime
Trucking, Inc. / Prime, Inc., one
of the nation’s largest trucking companies, for allowing the sexual harassment and
threatening of a female truck driver. According to the EEOC’s suit, the company
knew that one of its independent contractor drivers had sexually harassed at
least one female driver trainee. The EEOC said Prime stopped using the harasser
as a trainer, but allowed him to continue driving for the company and
continued providing him with Prime employees to work as co-drivers. The agency
said that when the harasser asked a new female driver to work as his co-driver,
Prime allowed the match but did not warn the woman about the harasser’s past
misconduct or warn him that he must not harass her while she worked as his
co-driver. The harasser verbally harassed the woman for the six weeks they
drove together, and he told her she would lose her job and commercial driver’s
license if she reported his behavior, the EEOC alleged.
The agency’s Los Angeles District Office filed suit against Sierra Creative
Systems. The suit alleged that the company subjected female workers to
ongoing verbal and physical sexual harassment and retaliation at its North
Hollywood facility, and such conduct continued later at its Paramount facility.
The EEOC said a supervisor rubbed the backs of female employees while making
comments about their underclothes and “accidentally” grazed their breasts with
his elbows while they were working at the printing machines. In addition to
physical harassment, the EEOC charged that employees were subjected to verbal
harassment, including being called “whores” or “sluts,” being referred to as “cows”
and “donkeys,” and being called useless, stupid, and ignorant. The company did
nothing to stop this abuse, and those who reported the misconduct were
subjected to harassment and retaliation, the EEOC said.
The Los Angeles District Office and
its San Diego Local Office sued Tapioca Express,
a South El Monte, California-based milk tea franchise, and two of its franchisees
for subjecting female employees to sexual harassment. The agency said the owner
of two Tapioca Express franchisees in Chula Vista and National City, California,
inappropriately touched women and made repeated comments of a sexual nature to
them. Some female employees felt compelled to quit as a result of the
escalating abuse, the EEOC alleged.
The EEOC’s Indianapolis District Office and its Cincinnati Area Office
sued Total
Maintenance Solutions, a Cincinnati-based commercial cleaning and construction
clean-up company, for subjecting an employee to a sexually hostile work
environment. According to the EEOC’s suit, the company owner forced the
employee to endure unwanted touching, sexual comments, overtures, and ogling. The
lawsuit alleges that he called an employee his “little young ass” and told her
how sexy she looked. He also allegedly hugged her, made sexual comments about
her body and repeatedly called her at night at her home after work hours
suggesting that they have a sexual relationship. The employee complained
repeatedly about the sexually hostile work environment, and was subsequently
fired in retaliation for her complaints, the EEOC said.
Acting Chair Lipnic pointed out that roughly one-quarter of the EEOC’s litigation filed in recent years has included an allegation of workplace harassment. Almost fully one-third of the 80,000 to 90,000 discrimination
charges the EEOC receives each year include an allegation of harassment. That
is the tip of the iceberg. Studies show that more than 80 percent of
individuals who experience harassment never file a formal complaint. Nearly
three out of four individuals who experience harassment never even raise the
issue internally.
The suits filed by the EEOC follow a meeting on Monday at agency headquarters in
Washington, D.C., that reconvened the EEOC’s Select Task Force on
the Study of Harassment in the Workplace. Established in 2015, the
task force concluded its work in June 2016 with the final report of its co-chairs, Commissioner
and now-Acting Chair Lipnic and Commissioner Chai R. Feldblum. The report
includes recommendations and resources regarding leadership, accountability,
policies and procedures, training, and developing a sense of collective
responsibility. Monday’s meeting delved into workplace harassment in light of
the #MeToo movement, and discussed how employers can and have worked to better
prevent and stop harassment.
Commissioner Feldblum
said about Monday’s meeting, “Our challenge is to use this #MeToo moment well.
We have a road map given the work we have done at the EEOC. We have the
attention and commitment of the range of different actors in society that we
need. Together, we can channel that energy to create significant and
sustainable change.”
At Monday’s
meeting, Acting Chair Lipnic also reminded that the EEOC has many roles to play
on the harassment issue – as the agency with expertise, as an educator, and as
enforcer. “With the suits filed this week,” Lipnic said, “we are enforcing the
law.”
The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employ¬ment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news
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