"This & That: Tuesday: Age Discrimination, Retaliation, and Sexual Harassment

April 28, 2015

 

Here is the latest issue of “This & That” Tuesday. I hope you find it to be informative and useful.

 

Announcements

You can always check out my website for upcoming speaking engagements that are guaranteed to be of value to business owners or for a list of topics that I can speak on at Chambers, Clubs, Business Associations, etc. More details about the events, topics and Human Resources 4U, in general, can be found on my website.

 

Upcoming Events

April 28, 2015

2015 Labor Law Update & Paid Sick Leave

Pomona Rotary Club

Information can be found on my website.

 

June 2, 2015

Understanding and Building a Disciplinary Process

Compliance Key

Webinar

Information can be found on my website.

 

June 4, 2015

East SGV CPA Group

2015 Labor Law Update

Information can be found on my website.

 

June 9, 2015

South Pasadena Rotary Club

The New Paid Sick Leave Act

Information can be found on my website.

 

PJP Health Pays $300,000 to Settle Age Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit

PJP Heath, Inc. will pay a total of $300,000 to three former employees to settle a lawsuit for age-based harassment, discrimination and retaliation filed by the EEOC.  This Long Island, NY sales insurance company is currently located in Melville, Long Island.

 

The EEOC's lawsuit charged that the company's management made discriminatory age-related comments and refused to promote one of the claimants based on her age.  The agency also said that the employer terminated two employees based on their age and fired a third claimant within three days after an internal meeting with her about her discrimination complaint. 

 

Discrimination against those 40 and older and retaliation for opposing or reporting it violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).  The court entered the consent decree on April 30, 2014.  In addition to monetary payments, the resolution requires PJP Health to take steps to prevent future age-based harassment, discrimination or retaliation, including conducting training for all employees and management, reporting any complaints and the company's responses to the EEOC and posting a notice informing employees about the settlement.

 

"Our hope is that supervisors, particularly younger ones, as was the case here, do not continue to feel emboldened to harass and terminate older employees, but rather become informed that this conduct violates federal law," said EEOC Senior Trial Attorney.

 

Retailer Fred Meyer Settles Second Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

National grocery chain Fred  Meyer will pay $487,500 to seven workers employed at its Oak  Grove, Ore., store and provide other relief to settle a sexual harassment  lawsuit filed by the EEOC.

 

This is the  company's second such settlement in just over five years; in late 2008, the  company also settled an EEOC sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of three  Oregon City store employees for $485,000. 

 

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, female employees at Fred Meyer's Oak Grove store in Milwaukie, Ore., were sexually harassed by the same customer from at least 2007.  The man visited the store almost daily, and often several times a day, and he would make lewd comments to both employees and customers, in addition to grabbing employees, cornering them, touching their breasts, and pulling one employee onto his lap. 

 

The EEOC said the numerous complaints by female employees to store management and security were dismissed as "hearsay," even after store security videotaped the customer reaching over the checkout counter to grab a female associate.  Employees were instructed that the customer could not be excluded from the store unless the security department personally witnessed him engaging in the offensive behavior, a management decision that forced many female employees to suffer his harassment for years.

 

 "I was terrorized at work and so stressed worrying about what would happen when this customer came into the store," said one employee.  "All I ever wanted was for my employer to do something to stop him, and I hope that this settlement means Fred Meyer will not let anything like this happen again."

 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits sexual harassment and requires employers to take prompt action to investigate and to stop the behavior after they receive complaints.  As before, Judge Haggerty has ordered a court-enforceable consent decree requiring Fred Meyer to revamp its policies, train its staff, and report to the EEOC future complaints of sexual harassment. 

 

Factoids

• EEOC Disability Discrimination claims have gone from 15,575 in 2006 to 25,957 in 2013
• Post Brinker, CA Wage & Hour class action claims have gone from 1228 in 2012 to 1494 in 2013
• 32% of all class action lawsuits filed nationwide come from CA
• Typical raise for top performers in 2014 = 4.6%

 

Quote of the Blog

“There’s always an opportunity to make a difference.”

~Michael Dell~