Firm faces sex harassment suit
Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News
Published September 27, 2006 at midnight
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the Moreland Automotive Group, alleging sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and retaliation against female employees who complained.
The lawsuit, which identifies the group as doing business under the names of Kids Auto, Kids Financial and Brandon Financial, was filed on behalf of two former female employees, Georgene Wayne and Nancy Castonon, and other women who have worked at those companies.
"Employees are entitled to work in an environment free of sexual harassment," said Mary Jo O'Neill, the EEOC's regional attorney in the Phoenix office.
"The EEOC takes very seriously retaliation against employees who come forward to complain about such unlawful conduct."
Tim Nemechek, the attorney who represents Kids Auto, Kids Financial and Brandon Financial, said he was not surprised to hear of the lawsuit.
"It comes from a couple of cases pending for three years," he said.
"As a policy, the company does not discriminate.
"They hire people from every gender and ethnicity, and (the company) has a strong anti-discrimination policy."
In the complaint, the women accuse the company of allowing male employees, including several managers, to sexually harass female employees since 1996.
The lawsuit claims that male co-workers were allowed to use office computers to view pornographic Internet sites, to keep pornographic magazines at work stations and to make lewd sexual comments at work events, including management meetings.
It also alleges that, beginning in 2003, the company retaliated against Wayne and Castonon because of their complaints about the work environment.
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