From the Chicago Tribune (3/9/07):
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber in Chicago entered a final judgment in a sexual-harassment case the EEOC successfully pursued against a suburban trucking firm last year. In November, a federal jury ruled that three saleswomen at Northlake-based Custom Companies Inc. should be awarded a total of $2.3 million. Leinenweber reduced the award to about $1.1 million.
The EEOC had charged that the three female sales representatives at Custom Companies were subjected to unwelcome groping, lewd sexual language, sexual propositions, and pornography. EEOC attorney Deborah Hamilton added:
“The jury sent a big message this afternoon, not only to Custom Companies but to all employers. The message is that sexual harassment is just not acceptable period. Employers who don’t get that are courting trouble the kind of trouble that can strike hard at the bottom line.”
I couldn’t agree more. The award was likely reduced since under the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the maximum amount which may be recovered on any particular claim in such cases is $300,000.
