Author: Mike Tsikoudakis

Bargain retailer Big Lots Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $155,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The settlement resolves a 2011 lawsuit filed against a Big Lots store in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for allegedly violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after a store manager sexually harassed a class of female employees.

In the suit, the EEOC alleged that in 2009 store manager Robert Muntz began sexually harassing Lacey Deaton, a customer service specialist, by repeatedly requesting to see her breasts, according to court documents.

Deaton complained of Muntz’s sexual harassment by calling Big Lots’ corporate office. While the harassment temporarily stopped, Muntz eventually resumed his behavior, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Fort Smith Division.

The Columbus, Ohio-based retailer allegedly failed to protect employees from continued sexual harassment, the EEOC said in a Nov. 27 statement.

Muntz allegedly similarly harassed other female employees at the Fort Smith location and also sent pictures of his genitals to at least one female employee, the EEOC said in the suit.

Big Lots “failed to take appropriate remedial measures to protect a class of female employees from sexual harassment … (and) is strictly liable for the sexual harassment of a class of female employees because of Mr. Muntz’s status as store manager at defendant’s Fort Smith, Arkansas, facility,” according to the lawsuit.

In addition to paying $155,000 to four claimants, Big Lots must redistribute its harassment-free environment policy, provide anti-discrimination training, and report future complaints of sexual harassment to the EEOC for one year, among others.

Having and distributing an anti-harassment policy to employees is not enough to avoid potential claims, the EEOC said in the statement.

“The policy must be enforced,” said Faye Williams, a regional attorney in the EEOC’s Memphis, Tennessee, district office, in the statement. “When the policy is not enforced, employers risk liability.”

Big Lots did not immediately return calls for comment.

Mike Tsikoudakis writes for Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.

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A franchisee of IHOP IP L.L.C. breakfast restaurant chains in New Mexico has agreed to settle a class sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, paying $1 million to resolve the case.

In the suit filed in September 2011 against Fahim Adi, owner and operator of at least six IHOP restaurants in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area, the EEOC alleged that Lee Broadnax, a general manager at the IHOP restaurants, sexually harassed a class of female employees, the EEOC said Nov. 13 in a statement.

Broadnax allegedly subjected the female employees to sexually offensive conduct, including sexual comments, innuendo and unwanted touching, according to court documents.

After complaints were made about Lee Broadnax’s behavior, IHOP failed to take reasonable measures to prevent and promptly correct sexual harassment allegations, according to court documents.

In some cases, the sexual harassment allegedly caused some women to quit their jobs, the EEOC said.

“Managers must constantly be reminded of their obligation to maintain workplaces where employees are not subjected to illegal harassment or forced to quit because of the harassment,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney at the EEOC’s Phoenix district office, in the statement. “Where managers fail to satisfy these obligations, it is the employer’s responsibility to correct the violations and prevent other violations from occurring.”

In addition to the $1 million settlement, which is expected to be divided among at least 22 women, the IHOP franchisee, which employees more than 300 workers in Albuquerque, agreed to provide its employees anti-discrimination training and notice of the settlement, among other things, the EEOC said.

Attempts to reach the IHOP franchisee for immediate comment were unsuccessful.

Mike Tsikoudakis writes for Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.

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Former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Michael J. McQueary on Oct. 2 filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the university claiming unfair termination, defamation and misrepresentation in connection with the child sexual abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Gerald A. Sandusky.

McQueary alleged that Penn State terminated his employment as assistant football coach earning a base salary of $140,400 because of his cooperation with Pennsylvania Attorney General investigators. McQueary testified he observed Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in a Penn State shower facility and reported the incident to school officials in 2002, according to the lawsuit.

Sandusky in June was found guilty of 45 of 48 child sexual abuse counts involving 10 victims over 18 years, often on Penn State property.

Unfair action also was allegedly taken against McQueary because he is expected to be a key prosecution witness at the criminal trials of former Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Senior Vice President of Finance Gary Schultz, according to the suit, which was filed in the Court of Common Pleas in Centre County, Pa.

Messrs. Schultz and Curley were charged with perjury and failure to report in connection to the Sandusky case. Both stepped down from their positions after the grand jury’s report in November 2011. Their perjury case is set to begin Jan. 7.

McQueary also alleged that Penn State did not offer to reimburse counsel fees incurred during the grand jury investigation, said he was misled by school officials as to how Penn State would handle the Sandusky matter, and was publically humiliated for testifying that school officials did not report the abuse.

Statements by school officials “have irreparably harmed the plaintiff’s reputation for honesty and integrity, and have irreparably harmed the plaintiff’s ability to earn a living, especially in his chosen profession of coaching football,” according to the lawsuit.

McQueary is seeking $8 million in lost future earnings, among other damages.

Penn State declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The embattled university faces complex civil lawsuits, compounded by an independent investigation that concluded that top officials at the school did nothing to investigate child sexual abuse allegations, which is likely to make it more difficult and costly to reach settlements of the cases, experts say.

As of February, the university has spent $7,577,643 in legal fees and to consulting and public relations firms as it addresses the fallout from the Sandusky scandal, according to Penn State’s website.

Mike Tsikoudakis writes for Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.

Stay informed and connected. Get human resources news and HR features via Workforce Management’s Twitter feed or RSS feeds for mobile devices and news readers.