Dave’s Supermarket sued by EEOC for sexual harassment

Last September, the EEOC filed a lawsuit against Cleveland-based Dave’s Supermarket, accusing a meat department manager of repeatedly sexually harassing female employees and accusing upper management of knowing about the bullying and not taking steps to prevent it.

The EEOC claims that Dave’s Supermarket manager Jugo Vidic subjected female employees to a hostile work environment permeated with sexual harassment that included making repeated, unwanted sexual advances on female employees as well as exposing himself to his female coworkers.

Dave’s Supermarket Chairman Burt Saltzman said, “We don’t think there’s any merit to (the lawsuit), and it’s under investigation.”  Saltzman also said that Vidic still works at the store.

Dave’s is a Cleveland-based grocery store chain which operates 13 stores in Northern Ohio, employing more that 1,500 employees.

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12 black employees sue Cleco Corp for racial discrimination

Twelve current or former black employees of Cleco Corp., an energy company based in Pineville, Louisiana, filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly subjecting them to racial discrimination and a hostile work environment where bosses encouraged “racist and dicriminatory comments”.

In addition, the lawsuit says that the company retaliated against employees who complained to Cleco management about the workplace bullying.

The black employees allege that they “were routinely denied promotion while (Cleco promoted) similarly situated white employees with less experience, education and training.”

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Employee fired after complaining about boss on ‘anonymous’ company website

Michelle Miller, a manager at Indiana-based Wireless @ Work, has filed a lawsuit against her company after she was allegedly fired three hours after she complained on a “purportedly anonymous” company website about co-owner Steve Unversaw’s “inappropriate comments” about minorities and his behavior towards women.

Miller claims that Steve Unversaw said black people “tended to be’thieves and con artists,'” that Unversaw accused a black employee of “stealing a phone and ‘acting his color,'” and that he told Miller that “by hiring black employees she was not protecting the interest of the company.”

Miller alleges that after she witnessed Unversaw making “sexist comments” to another female employe, she decided to report the sexual harassment on a company website designed to field such complaints. Three hours later she was fired by Unversaw’s business partner, Wireless @ Work co-owner Matt Clarke.

Miller is seeking punitive damages for being subjected to a hostile work environment and retaliation.

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Workplace bullying led waitress to commit suicide

A teenage waitress at Cafe Vamp, a popular cafe in Australia, committed suicide after she was subjected to systematic physical and emotional workplace bullying by bosses and coworkers. 

Three men who were implicated in the harassment of 19-year-old Brodie Rae Constance Panlock pleaded guilty to a number of workplace charges.

Marc Luis Da Cruz, the owner of Cafe Vamp, pleaded guilty to two charges that included failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment. 

Cafe manager Nicholas Smallwood and chef Gabriel Toomey pleaded guilty to charges of failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of persons.

The local coroner Peter White testified that Brodie Panlock was “emotionally vulnerable” because of her young age, lack of experience, and low self-esteem.  White said that the systematic bullying and “almost daily routine of inappropriate pressure” that the defendants inflicted on Panlock caused her an “unbearable level of humiliation” and led her to jump from a multi-story car park building in September 20, 2006.

The trial of Da Cruz, Smallwood, and Toomey is set to continue on February 5, 2010.

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College intern sues boss to recover unpaid wages

Naresh Vissa, a finance, accounting and broadcast journalism student at Syracuse University, has filed a lawsuit against Ed Butowsky, a Managing Partner at the Chapwood Capital Investment Management firm that claims to manage over $3 billion in investments, for allegedly failing to pay Vissa $900 for time worked as an intern last summer.

Ed Butowsky

Ed Butowsky describes himself as “a nationally-recognized expert in investment management who is interviewed frequently by the media, including Bloomberg TV, FOX Business News, ABC, NBC, Sports Illustrated, and SIRIUS radio.”

Vissa wrote about his “horrific internship experience” in The Daily Orange, the Syracuse University newspaper, and described how Butowsky “left (him) profane and vulgar voicemails” after Vissa threatened legal action to recover his unpaid wages.  He also wrote:

“Two days ago, more than two months after my internship, I finally received a check that was off the books; It was a quarter of the amount I am owed.  My boss continues to leave voicemails, threatening my future employment and saying he has made calls to Syracuse University about me.  He continues to stress that I have no idea the reach he has in places where nobody would want him to be, and that he will file a lawsuit against me for fraud, charging I did not deliver the results he was looking for.”

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Albertsons pays $9 million to settle EEOC discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of 168 workers

Albertsons agreed to pay $8.9 million to settle three federal discrimination lawsuits filed by the EEOC on behalf of 168 minority employees who complained of racial discrimination at the Albertsons distribution center in Aurora, Colorado.

Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Jewish employees complained of a hostile work environment from 1995 until 2008 that consisted of racist and anti-Semitic slurs, graffiti, and threats. 

The graffiti in the men’s restroom, which included the word “n—-r” and drawings of black and Hispanic men with nooses around their necks, was so offensive that many workers refused to use the restroom and would wait to relieve themselves outside the warehouse.

Employees allege that even though they complained about the graffiti, it was not removed until years later.  Workers also claim that they heard their white bosses joking and laughing about the racist graffiti.

The EEOC lawsuit alleged that numerous managers knew about and even participated in the harassment and discrimination of minority employees.  Furthermore, many employees who complained about the harassment were denied promotions, given harder job assignments, and were fired in retaliation for having complained.

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Hostile work environment complaints filed against Sutter Health

Former employees of Sacramento-based Sutter Health have filed discrimination complaints with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) accusing their supervisor, Rosetta Li, of harassment and creating a hostile work environment.  Allegations include racial discrimination, racial bias, verbal abuse, and having to endure a culture of fear and intimidation.
 
Employees that complained to Sutter Health’s human resources were allegedly subjected to further harassment and a hostile work environment.  They reported being berated by coworkers and they claim that Rosetta Li subjected them to demeaning and racially insensitive comments.  These employees allege that they were often told to either quit or face termination. 
 
The complainants allege that Rosetta Li has bullied employees in an intimidating and demeaning manner in the more than 15 years that she has worked for Sutter Health.

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Seven black workers sue Dr Pepper Snapple for racial discrimination

Last week seven black employees of the Northlake, IL Dr Pepper Snapple warehouse filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the company for failing to stop the harassment, which allegedly continued for more than two years.

The workers claim that Hispanic supervisors repeatedly hurled racial insults at the black employees and called them such things as “donkey,” “monkey,” and “n—-r.”

In addition, the lawsuit alleges that racially offensive graffiti was written across the black workers’ lockers twice this year. 

A spokesman for Dr Pepper Snapple Group said that the company immediately launched an investigation when it received the workers’ complaints and that it fired a number of employees.

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Aaron Rents settles EEOC sexual harassment lawsuit

The ‘rent-to-own’ retail chain Aaron Rents Inc. settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a young woman who was subjected to a sexually hostile work environment by the general manager of Aaron’s Fairview Heights store in Illinois. 

The store manager allegedly often made sexually explicit comments and requested sex from a 20-year-old employee.  The EEOC lawsuit stated that the manager “touched Alford’s body in a sexually offensive  manner on a number of occasions and he exposed himself to her several times.  Alford complained to her direct supervisor and called the company hotline but no action was taken to end the harassment. In October 2006, [the manager] sexually assaulted Alford in the Fairview Heights facility.”

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Bahama Breeze pays $1.3 million to settle racial harassment lawsuit

The Bahama Breeze restaurant chain agreed to settle an EEOC racial harassment lawsuit filed on behalf of 37 black workers at the Bahama Breeze restaurant in Beachwood, Ohio.  Bahama Breeze has agreed to pay $1.26 million to settle the lawsuit.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had accused managers at the Beachwood restaurant of ongoing acts of racial harassment and workplace bullying directed against its black workers.  Black workers were frequently called offensive names such as “stupid n—–r,” “homeboy,” “Aunt Jemima,” and “you people.” 

Managers would imitate the stereotypical black mannerisms and speech.  In addition, black workers were often denied breaks while their white coworkers were allowed breaks.  Even though the workers complained about the harassment, Bahama Breeze management did not stop the abusive behavior.

EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said, “No worker should ever have to endure a racially hostile work environment in order to earn a paycheck.  It is particularly disturbing when managers engage in and condone the very unlawful conduct they are required to prevent and correct.  This sizeable settlement should remind employers of the possible consequences of a failure to promote and maintain a discrimination-free workplace.”

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