Fred Meyer Stores Sued Over Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

The EEOC charges that a group of female workers were targeted.

Photo courtesy: wikimedia.org

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Retail giant Fred Meyer Stores, Inc. violated federal law when it allowed top level managers at its Oregon City store to sexually harass several female employees, according to a lawsuit the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed in federal district court here.

The EEOC further charges that Fred Meyer retaliated against the woman who first complained internally of harassment before ultimately bringing the situation to the EEOC's attention.

According to the agency's suit, senior-level managers subjected an employee and her female co-workers to a constant barrage of sexually offensive and degrading comments and the company refused to take any meaningful actions to stop the harassment.

Instead, the EEOC claims, Fred Meyer retaliated against the woman who first complained by stepping up the harassment against her. These actions caused severe emotional distress for the alleged victims.

For their part, Fred Meyer Spokeswoman Melinda Merrill says this is not something we take lightly. "We have a strong system in place for our employees who we want to have feel comfortable in the work place".

Merrill says Fred Meyer has a well established process for people to file these complaints.

"We also have ongoing training in these areas and that all increases as you move up. I think the facts support that we are really trying. Out of our 30,000 employees at Fred Meyer, we saw only .014 percent of those employees file claims with the EEOC in 2007".

Merrill added, "We take it very seriously and we have a good solid history of doing that". She also specified that in the case of the Oregon City store, this case involves former management at Oregon City. "The current management is not involved."

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964. After first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through conciliation, the EEOC filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, and will seek monetary damages on behalf of the employees, training on anti-discrimination laws, posting of notices at the work site and other injunctive relief.

According to EEOC Regional Attorney William R. Tamayo, "When you have senior-level managers engaged in the sexual harassment, the tone is set in the workplace. An employer who fails to take notice of illegal behavior in its workplace is only inviting litigation."

Portland-based Fred Meyer Stores, Inc. operates in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The company is part of the Kroger Co. empire of grocery stores, multi-department stores, and convenience stores nationwide.

The EEOC enforces federal laws in the private and federal sectors prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age and disability. Additional information about the EEOC is available on its web site at eeoc.gov.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kroger is one of the nation's largest grocery retailers, with fiscal 2006 sales of $66.1 billion.