A company which operates nursing care facilities across Texas and Louisiana will pay $50,000 to settle a sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The settlement was announced on February 9, 2024. The EEOC’s suit was filed against the operator and another company, who together manage a facility in El Paso, Texas.
According to the lawsuit, the administrator at the El Paso facility sexually harassed a female housekeeping aide by subjecting her to repeated, unwelcome sexual comments and forcible kissing. The housekeeping aide reported the unwelcome touching to her male supervisor, who then elevated the sexual harassment complaint to human resources at the facility. However, in response to his complaint, management was dismissive and took no action.
According to the lawsuit, the defendant failed to conduct a credible investigation of the complaint and the facility administrator was never disciplined. Further, the administrator and human resources managers retaliated against both employees after the harassment. Ultimately, both employees were forced to quit, the EEOC said.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, and retaliation for complaining about it.
Under the three-year consent decree settling the suit, in addition to monetary relief for the victims, the provider will revise its anti-harassment policy to provide an improved complaint and response procedure in its Texas facilities. It will also provide training to educate Texas-based human resources staff and facility administrators about sexual harassment and the rights and responsibilities of employees and management alike. To ensure that all employees regardless of their English-language proficiency understand their rights, the provider must also post and distribute a notice in both English and Spanish to all Texas-based employees.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. A complaint of harassment must be investigated promptly and impartially. Equal employment opportunity laws prohibit punishing job applicants or employees for asserting their rights to be free from employment discrimination including harassment. Participating in a complaint process is protected from retaliation under all circumstances.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures on preventing harassment, including sexual harassment. Also review policies and procedures on nonretaliation. Update your policies as needed.
- Train staff on what is considered harassment and their role in promptly reporting all types of harassment to a supervisor, the compliance and ethics officer, or through the facility’s hotline. Train supervisors and the compliance and ethics officer on their role when harassment has been reported to them by an employee. Stress the importance of nonretaliation. Document that these trainings occurred and file the signed documents in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit by anonymously polling staff to determine if they are being sexually harassed or experiencing discrimination and ask if they feel free to report such instances without fear of retaliation or retribution.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
