Blog# 2132020EEOC
Staffing Agency Allowed Sexual Abuse of Several Women Placed in Jobs at Albuquerque Police Unit, Federal Agency Charged
Today’s post is about an EEOC news bulletin dated 2/13/20 where joint employers (Select Staffing and Albuquerque Police Department) allegedly failed to stop or prevent sexual harassment by the Albuquerque Police Department. Select staffing agreed to pay $199,500 to settle the suit with the EEOC. The two and half year consent decree requires Select Staffing to review and revise policies prohibiting sex discrimination, sex harassment and retaliation and to provide training to all its employees in New Mexico. Select Staffing will report all complaints of discrimination and retaliation to the EEOC during the decree’s term. Sexual harassment is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Note that in addition to the $199,500 fine charged by the EEOC, four women also filed their own sex and race discrimination lawsuit against APD-IPRA and the City of Albuquerque, which the City of Albuquerque resolved in a $490,000 settlement.
Senior Judge James A. Parker of the U.S. District Court for New Mexico entered an Order on February 12, 2020 approving the consent decree settling the suit, styled EEOC v. Real Time Staffing Services, LLC, f/k/a Real Time Staffing Services, Inc., and Employment Solutions Management Inc., and Employbridge, LLC f/k/a New Koosharem Corporation, d/b/a Select Staffing, Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-0541-JAP-JFR, in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
EEOC news bulletin dated 2/13/2020
Sexual Harassment Notes
Employer Coverage – 15 or more employees
Time Limits
- Non Federal employees – 180 days to file a charge (may be extended by state laws)
- Federal employees have 45 days to contact an EEO Counselor
(a) Harassment on the basis of sex is a violation of section 703 of title VII. 1 Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when (1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
(d) With respect to conduct between fellow employees, an employer is responsible for acts of sexual harassment in the workplace where the employer (or its agents or supervisory employees) knows or should have known of the conduct, unless it can show that it took immediate and appropriate corrective action.
(f) Prevention is the best tool for the elimination of sexual harassment. An employer should take all steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring, such as affirmatively raising the subject, expressing strong disapproval, developing appropriate sanctions, informing employees of their right to raise and how to raise the issue of harassment under title VII, and developing methods to sensitize all concerned.
Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29 – Labor, 1604.11 – Sexual Harassment
Heidi Macomber 