Sealy of Minnesota to Pay $175K in Racial Harassment Case

Sealy of Minnesota has agreed to pay $175,000 to resolve a charge of racial harassment filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced.

The EEOC said an investigation found that Sealy, a mattress and box spring manufacturing company with operations in St. Paul, Minn., subjected its black and Hispanic employees to severe racial harassment. The EEOC said the misconduct included a noose, a Ku Klux Klan hood and racist epithets and jokes. Despite complaints by employees to Sealy’s senior management, the offensive conduct did not cease.

Following an investigation of the discrimination charge, the EEOC determined that there was reasonable cause to believe the company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition, the EEOC found that Sealy also discriminated against black and Hispanic employees in its selection process for lead positions at its St. Paul facility.

In addition to paying a total of $175,000 to the harassment victims, Sealy will provide anti-discrimination training to all its employees and additional training on harassment and retaliation to its supervisors, managers and owners. The company will revise and disseminate its anti-harass­ment policy to all employees and make available an anonymous hotline phone number for employees to report discrimination complaints.

Sealy will also revise the performance evaluations of all supervisors to require compliance with EEO laws as part of their position. The company has also implemented a more objective application process for all lead positions to base its selections on relevant skills and experience necessary for the posted position.

Source: EEOC