A St. Cloud fitness center will pay $140,000 to settle a federal lawsuit after female employees, including teenagers, were sexually harassed by a manager, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced.
The EEOC sued the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA for creating a hostile work environment where a manager repeatedly propositioned an employee for sex, made unwelcome sexual comments about female employees’ bodies and appearance, and made demeaning comments about women.
Despite employees reporting the harassment to management, the organization failed to take prompt action to stop it, forcing one employee to resign to escape the harassment, according to the EEOC.
“Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment,” the EEOC said in its announcement.
Settlement details
The consent decree settling the case requires the YMCA to:
- Pay $140,000 to three former female employees who experienced harassment
- Revise its harassment and discrimination policies
- Conduct periodic employee surveys to monitor for sexual harassment
- Report future harassment complaints to the EEOC
- Provide management training on federal law obligations regarding harassment prevention
The case (EEOC v. St. Cloud Area Family YMCA, Civil Action No. 24-cv-03738 LMP-LIB) was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota after attempts to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the EEOC’s administrative conciliation process failed.
The EEOC’s Chicago District Office, which has jurisdiction over Minnesota and several other Midwest states, handled the case. The commission is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against private sector employers for federal employment discrimination law violations.
