The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that a federal judge has approved a consent decree settling its sexual harassment lawsuit against Galt, Iowa-based Quality Egg, LLC. (EEOC v. Quality Egg, LLC, Civil Action No. 3:11-cv-03071-MWB).
According to the EEOC’s suit, Quality Egg, LLC, a now-defunct egg producer owned and operated by the Austin “Jack” DeCoster Revocable Trust, violated federal civil rights laws by permitting a former manager at its Galt, Iowa egg packing facility to sexually harass at least two female former employees. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
The EEOC settlement was reached after Quality Egg confirmed that it no longer employed any workers in its egg processing operations and agreed to pay damages. Under the terms of the two-year consent decree entered by the court, Quality Egg must pay $85,000 to two former employees who were subjected to egregious sexual harassment at the hands of Quality Egg supervisors.
Quality Egg, LLC, is one of several entities owned and operated by the Austin J. DeCoster Revocable Trust in Galt, Iowa. The EEOC previously sued a DeCoster operation at the same location and Austin “Jack” DeCoster in his individual capacity in 2002. That lawsuit, EEOC v. Austin J. DeCoster d/b/a DeCoster Farms of Iowa and Iowa Ag, LLC, Civil Action No. C02-3077 MWB (N.D. Iowa), involved allegations that the defendants subjected undocumented female employees to a sexually hostile working environment, including sexual assault and rape by supervisors. The lawsuit resulted in a consent decree providing $1,525,000 in damages. The defendants were required to promulgate policies in English and Spanish prohibiting retaliation and harassment based on race, sex, and national origin.