BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Houchens Food Group, Inc., owner and operator of Pic-N-Sav grocery stores in several states and headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has agreed to pay $50,000 and provide other relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Houchens Food Group subjected female employees at the Pic-N-Sav grocery store in Evergreen, Alabama to frequent, unwelcome sexual touching by a regular customer of the store for several years. Although female employees repeatedly complained to store supervisors, the company failed to take prompt corrective action to prevent or stop the harassment. After repeated complaints went unheeded, on June 5, 2020, one female employee called the police, who came to the store and issued the customer a trespass notice signed by the store manager. Nevertheless, the customer was still allowed to enter the store until at least September 2020, according to the suit.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits a hostile environment based on sexual harassment in the workplace. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Houchens Food Group, Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-00408) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama after it completed an investigation and was unable to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its voluntary conciliation process.

The four-year consent decree...

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