Federal Agency Charges Colorado-Based Agribusiness Discriminated and Retaliated Against Female Employees
DENVER – Midwest Farms, an agribusiness company operating several farms in rural Colorado, violated federal law by subjecting female employees to sexual harassment and retaliation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed yesterday.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a male farm manager entered the women’s dressing room on at least three separate occasions without knocking while female employees were either undressed or undressing. Another male manager regularly subjected female employees to vulgar sexual language and sexual propositions.
The EEOC alleges that Midwest Farms failed to take preventative or corrective action when female employees complained about the harassment and at least one woman who could not tolerate the harassment was forced to resign. The EEOC also alleges that at least one other woman was discharged because she complained to management and human resources about sexual harassment.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment, and retaliation for complaining about it. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (EEOC v. Midwest Farms, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-02531-MDB) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
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