Texas Ambulance Company to Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Lone Star Ambulance, a San Antonio, Texas critical care transportation company, has agreed to pay $90,000 in damages and furnish other relief in order to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, two female employees were subjected to repeated sexual harassment by persons in executive management and supervisory positions for the company. The allegations included not only verbal sexual harassment but also physical acts such as unwanted sexual touching and forced submission to sex as a condition of employment. According to the EEOC, working conditions became so intolerable that one of the female employees felt she had no other option but to resign. Another female employee was fired shortly after she rejected sexual advances from a supervisor and complained about the sexual harassment, the EEOC charged.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace as well as retaliation against an employee for reporting and/or opposing harassment. The EEOC filed its lawsuit, Civil Action No. 5:21-cv-00797-JKP-ESC, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The five-year consent decree settling the suit, entered by U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam on August 26, 2022, prohibits future sex-based discrimination and the creation or facilitation of a work environ­ment hostile to any employees on the basis of sex. In addition to the monetary relief, the decree requires Lone Star Ambulance to take steps to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment in its workplace, such as adopting a written policy against employment discrimination, hiring an independent outside monitor to investigate all complaints of sexual harassment and retaliation in the workplace, and annual training on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for all employees.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Texas