NEW YORK — The federal government is suing a New York supermarket on behalf of two female employees whose allege their supervisor solicited them for sex and then fired them for resisting his sexual harassment.
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a supervisor at Foodtown Corp. in Elmhurst, New York, subjected two female employees to repeated solicitations for sex, lewd comments about their bodies and inappropriate touching. Despite their complaints to the store manager, the sexual harassment continued, and the supervisor fired both female employees for rejecting his advances, the EEOC said.
"Federal law gives employees the right to work in an environment free from sexual harassment," said EEOC New York District Office regional attorney Jeffrey Burstein in a statement. "No worker should be forced to endure lewd comments, propositions for sex and inappropriate touching just so she can earn a paycheck."
"Sexual harassment victims who bring the abuse to the attention of their supervisors are doing the company a favor and should never be punished for it," added EEOC New York District director Kevin Berry.
In its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the EEOC seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the two female employees as well as injunctive relief.