Michigan Company to Pay $125K to Settle Sexual Harassment, Retaliation Suit

A food production company based in Chesterfield Township, Mich., will pay $125,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit, federal officials said.

According to the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Safie Specialty Foods Company Inc., which pickles vegetables, subjected two female production workers, one of whom was a temporary employee, to a sexually hostile work environment.

The EEOC said the women were targets of sexual advances and comments by the lead food processing employee, who is also the husband of a manager at Safie. The temporary employee complained about the harassment to her shift supervisor, who then notified higher-level management and submitted a written report. The allegations of harassment were corroborated by the other victim and a male temporary employee.

In response to the complaint, however, Safie fired the shift supervisor, the male temporary employee, and both victims. Then, after the temporary employee filed her discrimination charge, Safie terminated the lead food processor.

The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Safie Specialty Foods Company, Inc., Case No. 2:18-cv-13270) against Safie in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

In addition to providing monetary relief to the former employees, the four-year consent decree settling the suit requires Safie to provide annual sexual harassment training to all employees, submit regular reports to the Commission regarding internal sexual harassment complaints and any action taken to address the complaints, and modify the company’s sexual harassment policy and procedure.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Michigan