Woman fired after reporting co-worker exposing himself in NC, feds say. She gets $35K
A woman’s reports of male co-workers harassing and groping her went ignored by a North Carolina auto parts facility, which then fired her after she told a manager that an employee exposed himself to her, according to a newly settled federal lawsuit.
Before her firing, she was the only woman working the assembly line at Enforge LLC’s facility in Albemarle, about a 40-mile drive northeast from Charlotte, a complaint says.
Now, Enforge will pay the former employee $35,000 in damages to settle the sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced in a Dec. 9 news release.
The company must pay her the full settlement amount within 15 days of Dec. 6, according to a consent decree filed that day.
Enforge and attorneys representing the company didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ requests for comment Dec. 10.
“Employers must take prompt and effective action to address complaints of sexual harassment and ensure that employees are free to report such conduct without fear of retaliation,” Melinda C. Dugas, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte district, said in a statement.
Sexual comments, unwanted touching
When the woman began her job as a tie rod inspector for Enforge, she joined seven men assigned to the assembly line in August 2020, according to the complaint.
They typically worked every day, “with no days off,” the complaint says.
Within the second week of work, her male co-workers started to make crude, sexual comments to her and continued to do so until she was fired in October 2020, according to the complaint.
After the woman’s family member died, her co-workers on the assembly line told her she’d “feel better about” it if “she had sex” with them, according to the complaint.
The near daily harassment she endured also included “propositions for sex, threatening behavior” and unwelcome groping as she worked her shifts from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., the complaint says, McClatchy News previously reported.
Two male employees “grabbed (her) buttocks and breasts on multiple occasions,” and a third “tried to coerce (her) into the men’s bathroom,” according to the complaint.
The third employee is accused of regularly following her around Enforge’s facility.
The woman spoke out against the harassment and told her co-workers to stop, but it continued, the complaint says.
Though she repeatedly reported her co-workers’ behavior to Enforge’s management, the company didn’t intervene, according to the complaint.
Her firing
One of the employees accused of constantly groping the woman at work exposed his genitals to her during a break in October 2020, the complaint says.
She immediately reported the incident to a shift supervisor, then to a production manager, who told her to take time off from work as he promised to “figure it out,” according to the complaint.
Then the company fired her, according to the EEOC, which accused Enforge of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
As part of the consent decree resolving the lawsuit, Enforge must protect employees from sexual harassment, the EEOC said. The company also can’t retaliate against employees who object to harassment.
“Employees should not have to worry about reporting allegations of discrimination at work or to a federal agency,” EEOC trial attorney Taittiona Miles said in a statement.
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 7:22 AM with the headline "Woman fired after reporting co-worker exposing himself in NC, feds say. She gets $35K."
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