New York Paralegal Blog

The recent case involving East Jordan Plastics and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a powerful reminder of a fundamental right for all employees: the right to a workplace free from sexual harassment. The company's settlement of $460,000 and other required actions highlights a key piece of legislation, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  What is Title VII? Title VII is a federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This includes protection from sexual harassment, which is a form of sex discrimination. The law makes it illegal for an employer to allow a "hostile work environment" to exist, which is a workplace where offensive, severe, or frequent harassing conduct makes it difficult for an employee to do their job. In the case of East Jordan Plastics, the EEOC's lawsuit alleged that a male co-worker sexually harassed a class of female employees at the company...

NEW YORK - Carrols Corporation, the world's largest Burger King franchisee, will pay $2.5 million and take significant remedial steps to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The lawsuit alleged discrimination against 89 female employees around the country, many of whom were teenagers when they worked for Carrols.

ATLANTA - BellSouth Telecommunications, LLC, a subsidiary of BellSouth Corporation, will pay $120,000 to two former employees to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Trinity Medical Center in Rock Island, Ill., violated federal law when it permitted the sexual harassment of an employee and then fired her for complaining about it, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

ROANOKE, Va. - Southwest Virginia Community Health System, Inc. violated federal law by subjecting a female employee to a sexually hostile work environment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. Southwest Virginia Community Health System consists of a group of eight non-profit community healthcare centers throughout the Southwest Virginia region. The EEOC said that the misconduct occurred at a healthcare facility in Troutdale, Va.

ST. LOUIS – Help at Home, Inc., a company that provides home health care to elderly and disabled individuals in their homes, violated federal law by allowing the company’s regional director to sexually harass employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a discrimination lawsuit filed today. The company also unlawfully fired the victims and their supervisor for complaining, the EEOC said.

NORFOLK, Va. – Huntington Ingalls, Inc., the present owner of the shipyard in Newport News, Va., and its contractor Quality Coatings of Virginia, Inc. of Chesapeake, Va., will pay $80,000 to settle a lawsuit for retaliation filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

BALTIMORE – A federal jury has awarded $350,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to three former employees Endoscopic Microsurgery Associates, a Baltimore-area medical practice, who were subjected to unwanted sexual advances by the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

PHOENIX – A Fountain Hills, Ariz.- based golf course and restaurant has agreed to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that charged the company with retaliation in violation of federal law, the agency announced today.

Royal Palm Beach Restaurant Permitted Class of Female Employees to be Sexually Harassed by Patron, Federal Agency Charged WEST PALM BEACH – The owner/operator of a Hurricane Grill and Wings restaurant franchise in Royal Palm Beach, Fla., will pay $200,000 to settle a class sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

HOUSTON – A Houston-area restaurant chain violated federal law when it subjected its bartenders to sexual harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today. The EEOC also alleged that the company subjected the workers to retaliation after they complained about the misconduct.

PHOENIX – Arizona Logistics, Inc. doing business as DSI Arizona, and its management company, Norlyn Enterprises, Inc., agreed to pay $175,000 to five former employees and to implement preventive measures as part of a settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Bojangles’ Restaurants, Inc. violated federal law by subjecting female employees to a sexually hostile work environment at one of its corporate-owned restaurants, and by firing one woman who complained about the sexual harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. The restaurant involved in the lawsuit is located in Greensboro, N.C.

ALBUQUERQUE -- A large national shoe retailer, Genesco, Inc., doing business as Journeys, has agreed to settle a sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for $20,000, the agency announced on 7/1/2011. The EEOC had charged the company with subjecting three teenaged female workers at an Albuquerque Journeys store to sexual harassment. The EEOC’s lawsuit, EEOC v. Genesco Inc., d/b/a Journeys, 09-CV-952 WJ/RHS, charged that Genesco violated federal anti-discrimination laws when it subjected Lauren Torres, who was 16 at the time, and two other female workers, aged 16 and 19 at the time, to sexual harassment by an assistant manager. The EEOC’s suit also alleged that Torres was retaliated against after complaining about the harassment when her hours were reduced and she was subjected to retaliatory comments by other Genesco managers. Sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, and retaliation for complai...

WASHINGTON – The Departments of Justice and Education reached a settlement agreement with the Tehachapi Unified School District in Tehachapi, Calif., to resolve an investigation into the harassment of a middle school student based on his nonconformity with gender stereotypes.   Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 each prohibit harassment based on sex, including harassment based on nonconformity with gender stereotypes and sexual harassment.   In September 2010, Jacobsen Middle School student Seth Walsh committed suicide at the age of 13.   In October 2010, the Department of Education received a complaint alleging that Walsh had been the victim of severe and persistent peer-on-peer sex-based harassment while he was a student at Jacobsen.   After receiving the complaint, the Department of Education initiated an extensive investigation into the circumstances leading to Walsh’s death and, together...

DETROIT – LensCrafters, a major eyewear company, will pay $192,500 to settle a female-on-male sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that LensCrafters subjected a male employee to a sexually hostile work environment at its Saginaw, Mich., retail location. According to the EEOC’s suit (Civil Action No. 1:09-CV-12694, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan), LensCrafters violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting a male lab technician to sexual harassment and failing to address his complaints that a female co-worker was abusing him. The EEOC said the harassment included the female employee touching the male and making inappropriate comments about his appearance. In its suit, the EEOC charged that LensCrafters fostered the hostile climate by disregarding the male technician’s complaints because he was a man. In addition to the moneta...

SALINAS, Calif. -- Monterey Gourmet Foods, Inc., a major producer of refrigerated gourmet food products, agreed to pay $535,000 to four Latino workers and to implement preventive measures to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, three women and one man employed as packers in the lasagna, tamale and ravioli production units in Salinas suffered sexual harassment by the same male supervisor. Starting in August 2006, their new crew leader’s conduct included sexual comments, texting obscene pictures, and unwanted physical touching. Although the employees reported the harassment to management and the human resources department, the company failed to take prompt and effective corrective action. I n May 2008, just weeks after two workers filed discrimination charges with the EEOC, all four workers were discharged or laid off as retaliation. “You should...

MIAMI -- DiMare Ruskin, Inc., a large agricultural business with operations in California and Florida, violated federal law by subjecting female employees to sexual harassment by their supervisors and retaliating against them for complaining about it, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed late yesterday. The EEOC’s lawsuit asserted that father-and-son supervisors at the DiMare tomato facility in Immokalee, Fla., subjected female employees to severe and pervasive sexual harassment. The abuse, the EEOC said, included physical harassment such as groping and forcibly attempting to kiss the female employees, as well as verbal harassment, which included a nearly daily barrage of vulgar and unwelcome sexual comments.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. A U.S. District Court jury brought in a verdict of over $1.5 million for sexual harassment and retaliation in the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) lawsuit against Mid-American Specialties (Mid- American), a Memphis-based company that distributes promotional products and office supplies, the agency announced today. The verdict came after a trial presided over by Chief Judge Jon P. McCalla. The actual jury award included more than $400,000 in compensatory damages and back pay to three women and $1.1 million in punitive damages. “The jury verdict is an important vindication of the EEOC’s long-standing commitment to securing fair and equal treatment for all women in the work place,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien. “The EEOC will continue to be vigorous in its enforcement of the federal laws protecting workers from sexual harassment and retaliation.”

Las Vegas Resort Staff Were Constantly Touched and Demeaned by Their Supervisor, Federal Agency Charges LAS VEGAS — JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort, Spa & Golf violated federal law by failing to prevent and correct the ongoing sexual harassment of female resort staff, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed last month. Since about 2003, at least two female restaurant servers at the resort in Las Vegas were subjected to aggressive sexual harassment by a male co-worker who later became their supervisor, according to the EEOC. The EEOC contends that the harasser repeatedly engaged in verbal and physical harassment including rubbing his body against the women, groping them, and consistently making vulgar remarks. The EEOC asserts that the harassment continued until the harasser was discharged in December 2007, but that JW Marriott failed to sufficiently prevent and correct the harassment despite official complaints dating back to 2006, a dire...