TAMPA — A jury has awarded a Florida farmworker $850,000 after the farm she worked for took no action after she was sexually assaulted by a supervisor, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
According to the EEOC, Favorite Farms, where the female worker was employed, did not investigate the rape that was reported to the police and sent the worker home without pay the next day. The farm also took no action against the supervisor and continued to leave him to supervise female workers in the fields after the incident, the EEOC said. Favorite Farms then made the female worker who was a victim take a leave of absence.
"This verdict is significant because the jury was able to see the plight of a vulnerable woman at work," said EEOC Miami District Office regional attorney Robert Weisberg in a statement. "I want to thank the litigation team which was able to secure this substantial jury verdict."
"[This] verdict reinforces every woman's right to be safe in the workplace," added EEOC trial attorney Oshia Gainer Banks. "It is unfortunate that when a woman was raped on their property, Favorite Farms chose to retaliate against their employee rather than take action against its manager."
The jury at the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida Tampa Division found the victim entitled to $450,000 in compensatory damages and $400,000 in punitive damages, the EEOC said.