Star Tribune Company to Pay Over $300,000 for Alleged Sexual Harassment
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009 |
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The
United States District Court for the District of Minnesota has approved
as final a proposed settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit by the
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against The Star
Tribune Company for more than $300,000 and significant remedial relief,
the EEOC announced. The suit was filed on behalf of female employees at
the plant which produces The Star Tribune newspaper, one of the
nation's largest papers.
According to the EEOC's suit, The Star
Tribune created a sexually hostile work environment at its Heritage
Production Facility mail room for two named women who had filed charges
with the EEOC, and a class of similarly situated women. The jobs held
by the women involved compiling newspapers and placing inserts into
them -- a historically male-dominated position. The harassment of the
women included vulgar comments, dirty jokes and sex-based statements,
the EEOC said in the suit, filed in September 2008 under Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act (Civil Action No. 08-cv-5297).
Under the
consent decree, recently approved by Judge Ann D. Montgomery, The Star
Tribune will pay between $305,000 and $325,000, depending on the number
of women who step forward. The monetary allocation applies to female
employees in the mail room at the Heritage Production Facility between
August 2005 and the present. The EEOC notified the women receiving
distributions under the proposed settlement of the amount of the
proposed distribution and told them of their right to object to the
settlement. There were no objections.
As part of the consent
decree, The Star Tribune also agreed to substantial equitable relief to
create a discrimination-free workplace going forward. The EEOC shall
maintain oversight on the compliance over the decree's two-year term.
The non-monetary relief agreed to by the company includes:
* An injunction against sex harassment or retaliation of its female employees in the mail room;
* Employing a supervisor or manager for the mail room for every shift;
* Employing a human resources representative who will have
responsibility for the human resource function for the mail room,
including monitoring and resolving complaints of employees on working
conditions in the mail room; and
* Providing annual training on
preventing sexual harassment and retaliation to its mail room managers
and supervisors during the decree's term.
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