Manufacturer, Staffing Agency Sued for Harassment, Retaliation at Oklahoma Site

U.S. officials say Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) and ManpowerGroup US Inc. (Manpower) violated federal law when they fired a female employee who complained about sexual harassment at a JCI manufacturing facility in Norman, Okla.

According to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a female temporary employee worked on an HVAC production line at a JCI facility through a staffing contract with Manpower. The suit alleges that a male JCI employee began harassing the woman in early 2018, graphically describing his sexual encounters with women, repeatedly threatening sexual assault and making belittling comments about women. The male employee also told her he wanted to have sex with her teenage daughter.

The female employee complained to a Manpower supervisor, but Manpower took no action to prevent and stop the harassment, according to the EEOC. JCI and Manpower then fired the woman after she provided a written statement describing the harassment. JCI claimed they fired the female employee for misconduct, but a male coworker accused of similar conduct was not disciplined.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964 which prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace and retaliating against an employee for reporting it. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Johnson Controls, Inc. and ManpowerGroup US, Inc., Civil Action No. 5:19-cv-00904) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its voluntary conciliation process. The agency seeks monetary damages, training on anti-discrimination laws, posting of anti-discrimination notices at the worksite, and other injunctive relief.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits USA Training Development Oklahoma Manufacturing