CHICAGO FORD PLANT HIT FOR $1.5
MILLION IN SEXUAL HARASSMENT SUIT
Ford Motor
Company has paid about $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit that charged
widespread sexual harassment and racial discrimination took place at its
stamping plant in south suburban Chicago Heights.
The suit,
brought by eight women and one male worker, was settled earlier this
month. Under the settlement agreement, neither side is permitted to
discuss the terms, although a source familiar with the case confirmed
the settlement amount.
The original
complaint, filed on May 22, 1995, alleged that African-American and
Hispanic workers suffered racial slurs from co-workers. The women also
allegedly were subject to unwelcome sexual advances from supervisors and
a hostile work environment.
The stamping
plant has 2,000 workers, about 150 of whom are women, said Ford
spokesman Jim Trainor.
Currently
pending are five other sexual harassment or discrimination charges that
workers have filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, the Ford spokesman said. The EEOC, he confirmed, is
investigating these charges. Before an individual worker can sue a
company for violations of employment discrimination law, he or she must
have a "right to sue" letter from the EEOC that shows the agency has
looked into the charges and made a determination of credibility.
No other
sexual harassment suits are pending against Dearborn, Michigan-based
Ford, the company said.
Jean Kamp, a
lawyer at the EEOC’s Chicago office, said charges that individuals make
against an employer are strictly confidential until the worker or this
government files a lawsuit. She said she could not comment on the
investigation regarding Ford or the possibility of expanding it to a
suit representing more women workers.
Kamp is the
lead trial lawyer in the government’s sexual harassment suit against
Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America.
That suit,
the largest sex discrimination case in U.S. history, involves 350 women
at the plant in Normal.
In the
Chicago Heights case, the lead plaintiff, Jeanette Jones, 54 years old,
worked at Ford for 24 years, beginning in 1978.
Her charges
of persistent sexual harassment include six supervisors and many
co-workers.
