Scolari's Consents to Payment of $.425M to Settle Sex Harassment and Retaliation Suit

Holding:

Scolari's Warehouse Markets will pay $425,000 and furnish other relief to settle a class sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"). Under the three-year consent decree resolving the case, Scolari’s agreed to pay $425,000 to the employees identified by the EEOC to have been sexually harassed or retaliated against. As part of the injunctive relief, Scolari’s further agreed to provide training to all employees; provide reports to the EEOC regarding its employment practices for a period of three years; and, to hire a consultant to review its harassment policies and procedures.

Detailed Summary:

The EEOC charged in its lawsuit that 19 female employees, several of whom were teenagers at the time, were subjected to repeated and sometimes severe sexual harassment by the company’s senior officers across multiple stores in the Reno area.

The EEOC further asserted that Scolari’s senior officers and managers inappropriately touched female employees, propositioned them, made lewd comments and passed around naked photos of themselves, among other acts. In addition, the EEOC charged that Scolari’s management failed to address and correct the unlawful conduct, even when the victims complained about it. Instead, the women were fired or were forced to abandon…

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