A Central Coast Farm has agreed to pay $200,000 and furnish injunctive relief to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed against it by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  

The lawsuit alleges both female and male workers were subjected to a sexually charged hostile work environment at the employer’s Camarillo fields. Actions alleged include sexual harassment perpetrated by the employer’s supervisor that was repeated, frequent and included offensive sex-based remarks and unwelcome physical touching. The lawsuit also claims that even when comments were made within earshot of other supervisors and managers, none took corrective action. The employer was ultimately charged with failing to monitor the workplace, failing to properly investigate and respond to complaints, discouraging additional complaints from being filed, and retaliation against those who complained. 

Such alleged conduct violates both state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment, and retaliation for complaining about discrimination.  

In addition to monetary relief, the settlement requires the employer to institute the following injunctive relief:  

• Appoint an EEO monitor.  

• Review and revise policies and procedures to bring them into compliance with current laws prohibiting harassment, discrimination and retaliation.  

• Ensure all employees are trained on discrimination, harassment, and retaliation; and  

• Conduct audits to ensure that employees, including supervisors and managers are held accountable with respect to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.  

The company must also institute a complaint procedure, including a toll-free complaint hotline, an online complaint process, and maintain records regarding complaints, investigations and outcomes. The settlement decree will remain under the court’s jurisdiction for three years.  

The corrective measures outlined in the settlement’s injunctive order offer important guidance on how employers can better manage the risks associated with unlawful workplace conduct.  

Key Takeaways 

• Company policies and procedures relating to harassment, discrimination and retaliation should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they are up-to-date and consistent with actual practices (e.g., training, reporting and investigation). 
• All employees should receive mandatory anti-harassment training. For California-based employers (with five or more employees) training is mandatory. In California sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention training is required every two years for non-supervisory personnel (one hour) and supervisors (two hours). An employer is required to train its California-based employees so long as it employs five or more employees anywhere, even if they do not work at the same location and even if not all of them work or reside in California.   

• Employees at all levels, without exception, should be held accountable for behavior that violates company policies and procedures when it comes to behaviors that are or could be perceived as harassing, retaliatory or abusive in nature.  

• Consider cultivating a ‘see something; say something’ workplace mindset among all employees to ensure that the company is made aware of potentially harmful conduct in a timely manner.