labor lawAdivision of labor law center

 

A New York company will pay $375,000 to settle an EEOC sexual harassment lawsuit.

 

American Industrial Sales Corp doing business as RAK Industries, sells road construction barricades and signs. It also sells a variety of construction safety and personal safety items, as well as nuts and bolts, tools and personal safety equipment. 

 

The Rochester, NY company website touts it as “one of the country’s most rapidly growing resources of highway, safety and industrial products to municipalities, police, fire, parks and recreation departments, schools, hospitals, golf courses and resorts across the United States.” The website also mentions the company’s “full service solution” for customers and “personal attention.”

 

It’s the personal attention to female employees, rather than customers, that got the owner in trouble.

 

The owner, vice president and sales staff of RAK Industries  – according to the EEOC investigation and subsequent lawsuit – sexually harassed 18 female employees. The harassment includes inappropriate touching, unwelcome sexual advances and vulgar sexual comments, says an EEOC source.

 

Tragically, four victims were teenaged girls.

 

Under an out-of-court settlement, American Industrial Sales agreed to pay $375,000 to the 18 victims. In addition to the cash payment, the company agreed to implement anti-discrimination training and monitoring overseen by the EEOC. The agreement was approved by U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Telesca in the Western District of New York.

 

As in all EEOC settlements, the company denies any wrongdoing.

 

 “The EEOC hopes this settlement encourages employers to take steps to prevent sexual harassment and take effective measures to remedy harassment when it occurs,” said Margaret A. Malloy, the EEOC trial attorney assigned to the case. “Women and girls should not have to endure sexual harassment in the workplace, and especially not from the highest levels of the corporation.”

 

EEOC New York District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr. said, “We caution companies to be mindful that teenage employees are especially vulnerable to workplace harassment because of their inexperience. Through our national Youth@Work Initiative, the EEOC is shining a public spotlight on the issue of job bias against teens so that young people fully understand their rights and employers voluntarily comply with the law.”

 

In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor launched it’s annual Youth@Work Summer Safety initiative just last week. One focal point of the agenda is awareness of and prevention of sexual harassment of teens at work.

 

In September 2004, EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp (then vice chair) launched the federal agency’s national Youth@Work Initiative. It is a comprehensive outreach and education campaign designed to inform teens about their employment rights and responsibilities and to help employers create positive first work experiences for young adults.

 

The EEOC has held more than 3,400 Youth@Work events nationwide since the program was launched, reaching more than 212,000 students, education professionals, and employers.

 

Of course, sexual harassment is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law prohibits discrimination in employment decisions and working conditions based on sex, race, religion, color or national ancestry.

 

Sexual harassment occurs when an employee is the target of negative comments or behavior based on his or her gender. Men as well as women can be the target of sex discrimination or sexual harassment.

 

The RAK Industries case is one of the most flagrant examples of sexual harassment in recent memory, because it involved sexual advances and inappropriate touching by members of the company management at the highest level.

 

Sexual harassment need not involve touching or improper advances. In fact, the majority of cases investigated by the EEOC today, do not involve them. It is far more common for a company to tolerate off-color remarks from coworkers, or suggestive pictures or calendars in work areas. However, this suit shows that inappropriate sexual advances still exist in the workplace in a few companies.

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