Sexually Hostile Work Environment Claim

A major Midwestern lumber supplier has been sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) for allegedly allowing female employees to be sexually harassed at its sawmill business in Wisconsin.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/7-31-09c.html . According to the EEOC Press Release, the agency’s administrative investigation which preceded the lawsuit revealed that a company supervisor created a sexually hostile work environment when he repeatedly exposed his genitals to female employees over a period of years.  The EEOC also alleges that the company did not fire the supervisor until a County District Attorney began an investigation which led to the supervisor being charged under Wisconsin state law with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior.  An EEOC attorney was quoted in the Press Release as saying: “Despite all of the negative attention focused on sexual harassment over the past 20 years, it continues to be an area which demands the EEOC’s focused law enforcement attention.”  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, and, as stated by the EEOC’s Chicago District Director in the Press Release, “Employers who don’t protect their workers’ rights need to know that the federal government will enforce our national policy against sexual abuse in the workplace.”  Additional information about the EEOC may be found at www.eeoc.gov .