Menard Inc. in Michigan for Sued by EEOC for Sexual Harassment

Menard Inc., which operates over 300 Menards home improvement stores in 14 states, has been sued by federal authorities on charges that it failed to act on multiple complaints of sexual harassment by an assistant manager at its facility in Wixom, Michigan.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in its lawsuit that Menard violated federal law by subjecting female employees to sexual harassment.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a hardware department manager received a complaint that his assistant manager was sending pornographic messages to a female subordinate. The female employee showed one of the messages to management and indicated she did not feel comfortable working alone with the assistant manager.

The department manager chose not to investigate the incident or reprimand the assistant manager, opting instead to tell the assistant manager “not to dip his pen in company ink.” The assistant manager continued to harass female employees, the EEOC said.

Close to a year later, a different female employee complained to the department manager about a pornographic message she had received from the assistant manager. The department manager failed again to act on the complaint and the assistant manager continued to harass female employees with additional pornographic messages and inappropriate physical contact.

Approximately a year and a half after the initial complaint, when another complaint was made to human resources and the assistant general manager, the assistant manager was finally investigated, admitted to the harassment, and was terminated.

The EEOC filed suit (Case No. 2:20-cv-11240) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief to prevent future harassment.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Michigan