CHICAGO — A U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit against Chicago staffing agency Anchor Staffing Inc., alleging sexual harassment and retaliation has been settled for $30,000.
In its lawsuit, the EEOC alleges Anchor Staffing violated an employee's federal civil rights when it did not properly respond to her complaint regarding sexual harassment but instead removed the employee from the job assignment and denied her any future work.
"Employers are not responding lawfully to employee complaints of harassment if their response makes the complaining employee worse off, but that is exactly what happened here," EEOC Chicago District director Julianne Bowman said in a statement.
According to the EEOC, Anchor Staffing employee Sara Magana was placed on a temporary assignment when she was sexually harassed by another employee who tried to hug and kiss her and made intimidating comments.
"After Ms. Magana complained about being harassed, Anchor Staffing removed her from her work assignment and never placed her on any other assignments," Bowman said in a statement. "An employer is only creating more trouble for itself when it punishes an employee for reporting unlawful misconduct."
As part of the settlement, Anchor will pay Magana $30,000 in monetary relief and will train its staff on employment discrimination and to report sexual harassment complaints to the EEOC.