U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE
5-5-10
Teens Were Among 13 Victims of Abuse at Everdry’s Rochester Location, Agency Charged
NEW YORK – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that Everdry Marketing and Management has paid $471,096 in damages, plus $86,581 in post-judgment interest, to 13 victims of sexual harassment. The payout satisfies a judgment obtained by EEOC against Everdry in October 2006 following a four-week trial in Rochester, N.Y. (case # 01-CV-6329). The individual payouts range from about $24,000 to $56,000, including the interest, which covers the time the women had to wait to receive their jury awards. Everdry was required to pay the substantial interest after the ultimate resolution of the case was delayed by an appeal Everdry filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit challenging various aspects of the jury’s verdict and other district court rulings. The Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s verdict and award of damages.
Cleveland-based Everdry provides basement waterproofing services through various franchises. The case concerned a prolonged period of physical and verbal sexual harassment of mostly teenage telemarketers by male managers and co-workers at Everdry’s Rochester, N.Y., location. The EEOC charged that the harassment included repeated demands for sex, frequent groping, sexual jokes and constant comments about the bodies of women employees. On one occasion, a male manager requested sex from a teenager with the promise of a raise if she consented.
“Many of the victims in this case were young and especially vulnerable,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien. “We are gratified that the appeals court has now paved the way for these harassment victims to finally receive the relief the jury awarded.”
The jury awards consist of compensatory damages for pain and suffering and punitive damages designed to punish and deter Everdry from engaging in further sexual harassment. The payout was made by Everdry’s corporate headquarters.
“The 13 women in this case had to endure vicious sexual harassment and then live it again through their testimony in pre-trial depositions and the trial,” said EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney Robert D. Rose. “The EEOC appreciates their courage and endurance in seeing this case all the way through. For them, justice was delayed, but ultimately not denied.”
Spencer H Lewis, Jr., district director for the EEOC’s New York District Office, added, “This case demonstrates how the EEOC will not relent in its efforts to redress discrimination wherever it occurs, no matter how long it takes.”
The EEOC enforces federal laws banning workplace discrimination. Further information about the agency is available at www.eeoc.gov.
Showing posts with label age harassment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label age harassment. Show all posts
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Kmart To Pay $120,000 To Settle EEOC Age Bias Suit
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE
3-24-10
Pharmacist Called ‘Greedy’ for Working at Age 70, Then Forced to Quit and Threatened With Legal Action in Retaliation for Complaining, Federal Agency Charged
HONOLULU – Kmart Corporation will pay $120,000 and furnish other relief to settle an age harassment, constructive discharge and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that Kmart discriminated against a 70-year-old pharmacist at a Honolulu store.
According to the EEOC’s suit, over the course of four years, a pharmacy manager openly professed on several occasions that the pharmacist was “too old,” “should just retire,” and was “greedy” for continuing to work at age 70. Further, the EEOC said, the manager continued to humiliate her in writing by stating, “The pharmacy is no longer your forte” and “You need to retire from pharmacy work now,” in a communication book open to the entire department.
The manager also purposely scheduled her to work on Sundays – knowing that she attended church those days – to encourage her to quit, according to the EEOC. The agency further contended that the victim complained to a district manager, general manager and human resources manager regarding the age-based harassment, to no avail.
Further, the EEOC charged, Kmart threatened legal action against the pharmacist using a pretext on an unrelated matter to retaliate against her for her discrimination complaint. Finally, the EEOC said, she had to quit to escape the mistreatment.
In June 2009, the EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii (EEOC v. Kmart Corporation, et al., Case No. CV09-00300 SOM BMK), claiming that Kmart failed to take remedial action, which forced the pharmacist to resign. The EEOC argued that the harassment and Kmart’s failure to adequately address it were in direct violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
“Instead of addressing this pharmacist’s legitimate complaints of age discrimination, Kmart made a bad situation worse by threatening her for complaining,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “Such retaliation only compounds an employer’s culpability.”
In cooperation with the EEOC, Kmart entered into a three-year consent decree which also stipulated that Kmart post a notice on the matter; hire an EEO trainer; review and revise its existing anti-discrimination policy; provide annual ADEA training to all staff; and ensure that performance evaluations reflect discriminatory misconduct by management staff.
“Older workers should be valued for their experience, not viewed as a liability,” said Anna Y. Park, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles District Office, which includes Hawaii in its jurisdiction. “Under no circumstances will the EEOC tolerate employers pushing out their older workers simply because of age. The EEOC forcefully protects people against this kind of age-based discrimination.”
Timothy Riera, director of the EEOC’s Honolulu Local Office, added, “Employers should handle complaints of discrimination, including harassment, in an expeditious manner. Training on a company's EEO policies should occur periodically, and if someone if found to be in violation, appropriate disciplinary action should immediately be taken.”
According to company information, Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears Holdings Corporation, operates 1,368 general merchandise stores across the U.S. and its territories.
The EEOC is the federal agency that enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on the agency’s web site at www.eeoc.gov.
PRESS RELEASE
3-24-10
Pharmacist Called ‘Greedy’ for Working at Age 70, Then Forced to Quit and Threatened With Legal Action in Retaliation for Complaining, Federal Agency Charged
HONOLULU – Kmart Corporation will pay $120,000 and furnish other relief to settle an age harassment, constructive discharge and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that Kmart discriminated against a 70-year-old pharmacist at a Honolulu store.
According to the EEOC’s suit, over the course of four years, a pharmacy manager openly professed on several occasions that the pharmacist was “too old,” “should just retire,” and was “greedy” for continuing to work at age 70. Further, the EEOC said, the manager continued to humiliate her in writing by stating, “The pharmacy is no longer your forte” and “You need to retire from pharmacy work now,” in a communication book open to the entire department.
The manager also purposely scheduled her to work on Sundays – knowing that she attended church those days – to encourage her to quit, according to the EEOC. The agency further contended that the victim complained to a district manager, general manager and human resources manager regarding the age-based harassment, to no avail.
Further, the EEOC charged, Kmart threatened legal action against the pharmacist using a pretext on an unrelated matter to retaliate against her for her discrimination complaint. Finally, the EEOC said, she had to quit to escape the mistreatment.
In June 2009, the EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii (EEOC v. Kmart Corporation, et al., Case No. CV09-00300 SOM BMK), claiming that Kmart failed to take remedial action, which forced the pharmacist to resign. The EEOC argued that the harassment and Kmart’s failure to adequately address it were in direct violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
“Instead of addressing this pharmacist’s legitimate complaints of age discrimination, Kmart made a bad situation worse by threatening her for complaining,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “Such retaliation only compounds an employer’s culpability.”
In cooperation with the EEOC, Kmart entered into a three-year consent decree which also stipulated that Kmart post a notice on the matter; hire an EEO trainer; review and revise its existing anti-discrimination policy; provide annual ADEA training to all staff; and ensure that performance evaluations reflect discriminatory misconduct by management staff.
“Older workers should be valued for their experience, not viewed as a liability,” said Anna Y. Park, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles District Office, which includes Hawaii in its jurisdiction. “Under no circumstances will the EEOC tolerate employers pushing out their older workers simply because of age. The EEOC forcefully protects people against this kind of age-based discrimination.”
Timothy Riera, director of the EEOC’s Honolulu Local Office, added, “Employers should handle complaints of discrimination, including harassment, in an expeditious manner. Training on a company's EEO policies should occur periodically, and if someone if found to be in violation, appropriate disciplinary action should immediately be taken.”
According to company information, Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears Holdings Corporation, operates 1,368 general merchandise stores across the U.S. and its territories.
The EEOC is the federal agency that enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on the agency’s web site at www.eeoc.gov.
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