Cannabis company Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. violated federal law when it subjected female employees at the company’s Collinsville, Illinois facility to unlawful sexual harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, at least as early as February 2021, the Collinsville facility manager and other male employees continually harassed female employees, including touching, sexual comments, sexual advances, requests for sexual relations, and comments about the appearances and bodies of female employees and customers.
Numerous female employees complained to Ascend’s human resources personnel about the sexual harassment, but the company failed to stop the conduct. At least one woman was forced to resign because the environment was intolerable, the EEOC said.
Conduct as alleged in the EEOC’s complaint violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits harassment because of an employee’s sex. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc., Case No. 3:26-cv-378) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
Source: EEOC
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