SEXUAL HARASSMENT: NY-based Grocery Store to pay $1,260,080 for EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit

January 21, 2011

Syracuse, New York – A federal district court has released a $1,260,080 verdict on a sexual harassment case brought about by the EEOC. The verdict will require Paul’s Big M grocery store in Oswego, N.Y. to pay the settlement in a suit caused by continuous sexual harassment of its female employees.

The suit was handled by the EEOC against KarenKim, Inc. (Paul’s Big M) for harassing a group of female employees from 2001 onwards. Three victims said their general manager shares stories about his sexual life with the store’s owner, to whom he was engaged, and makes untoward sexual advances against them.

The manager pled guilty to one criminal count of harassment in the second degree charged against him in 2008, but was only given a 30-day suspension probably because he was engaged to the owner. He harassed several other female employees until he was fired in 2010.

EEOC said the company failed to take immediate action to stop the harassment actions of the general manager despite the complaints brought about by employees to its management and the police.

After a two-week trial which started January 3, $1,260,080 in punitive damages was awarded against the company, and an additional $10,080 to each of the 13 harassment victims for pain and suffering damages.

An EEOC trial attorney for the case said employers should maintain work environments that are free from discriminatory and harassment practices. But in case they fail, the EEOC will be there to protect the rights of employees.