Plumbing company to pay $500k to settle sexual harassment charges
Reprints
A Las Vegas plumbing company and its units will pay $500,000 to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit in which it was charged with subjecting female employees to sexual harassment.
The agency said in a statement Thursday that since 2017, Focus Plumbing LLC had subjected a class of monolingual Spanish-speaking female employees to a hostile work environment and quid pro quo sexual harassment that included unwanted touching, groping, sexual advances, and sexually offensive comments and requests.
The agency said also that employees were threatened if they rejected the sexual advances, while others who acquiesced to sexual acts were offered better work assignments and hours.
In addition to paying the $500,000, the company will provide specialized training on sexual harassment to human resources officers and managers, among other provisions of the consent decree, the EEOC said.
Focus attorney Wendy Medura Krincek, a shareholder with Littler Mendelson PC in Las Vegas, said in a statement, “The Focus companies voluntarily agreed to settle the matter without admitting any guilt and deny they violated any laws.
“The requirements of the settlement agreement are consistent with practices and policies that were already in place.”
