Walmart Sued by EEOC Over Handling of Sexual Harassment

A Walmart store located in Geneva, NY, has been sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over alleged sexual harassment. This is as a result of the store’s unwillingness to address consistent conduct by an employee over the course of several years, which in turn led to several female employees quitting. The suit is proceeding after attempts to resolve the problem through the pre-litigation conciliation process failed.

The alleged harassment was committed by an employee at that store between 2015 and 2019, who had repeatedly engaged in inappropriate conduct towards female employees. With one woman, for example, he repeatedly made vulgar comments towards her, including commenting on her appearance. He would also repeatedly invite her to be alone with him and propositioned her for sex, despite repeatedly being told she wasn’t interested. When the woman reported the harassment, she was told to put her “big girl panties on” and told to “stand up” for herself. When it became clear management wasn’t going to do anything to curtail the harassment, she resigned.

This was not the lone case of this employee harassing female employees. Numerous other employees also made complaints about alleged harassment by this same employee, but in all cases, Walmart refused to punish the employee for misconduct or take any other substantive steps to prevent the alleged harassment.  As a result, the EEOC initiated an investigation of Walmart for violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits workplace sexual harassment. The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages for the employee who was chased out of her job and is seeking an injunction to remedy and prevent future sexual harassment.

If you have been the victim of sexual harassment, or if you’re an employer dealing with potential sexual harassment or sex discrimination issues, please contact the law office of Andrew Ross Sack. He has the knowledge and skill you need to protect your rights and bring you the relief you deserve. Give him a call at 516-526-3319, or visit his contact page.