Pet Store Pays $340K to Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Bark If You’re Dirty, a pet store with locations in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona, has agreed to pay $340,000 and provide additional relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of several female employees.

Suit: Women Faced ‘Constant Sexual Harassment’

The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that a male manager at the Phoenix store and a male employee at the Scottsdale store “subjected female employees to constant sexual harassment,” such as:

• Making inappropriate sexual comments about female employees and customers
• Touching female employees without their consent
• Sexually propositioning female employees, and 
• Showing female employees naked photos.

The women said they complained about the alleged harassment to management at both stores on multiple occasions over several years. Despite receiving the complaints, Bark If You’re Dirty failed to take prompt and appropriate action to stop the harassment, the lawsuit asserted. 

Were They Fired for Complaining?

The EEOC also claimed the company retaliated against some of the women by firing them after they complained about the alleged harassment. Other female employees felt compelled to resign because they were “severely affected and left vulnerable” by management’s inaction, the agency said.

In the EEOC’s view, the alleged conduct amounted to violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment and retaliation against employees who oppose sexual harassment.

After an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the matter through its conciliation process, the EEOC filed a lawsuit on behalf of the women. 

“Sexual harassment in any workplace, no matter how casual or formal the working environment, is illegal and violates federal civil rights law,” said Regional Attorney Mary Jo O’Neill of the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office. “Employers have a legal duty to stop, prevent, investigate, and eliminate any and all sexual harassment. Employers must take all appropriate actions swiftly in order to protect employees and prevent repeated misconduct and violations of the law.”

Ultimately, the company entered into a three-year consent decree to settle the lawsuit. In addition to paying a total of $340,000 to the women, Bark if You’re Dirty must also retain an independent consultant experienced in employment discrimination law to:

• Train employees, managers, owners, supervisors and HR resources personnel on sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation
• Review existing policies against discrimination and retaliation, and
• Make any necessary revisions to those policies to help prevent future sexual harassment.  

Bark If You’re Dirty also agreed not to rehire the male manager and male employee who sexually harassed the women.

You’re Notified of a Harassment Charge – Now What?

Hopefully, you’ll never have to deal with a similar situation at your company. But if you receive notice of a harassment charge from the EEOC, employment attorney Michael Nader of the firm Ogletree Deakins previously shared with HRMorning steps to take:

• Confirm the employee’s dates of employment, positions held and circumstances of departure, if applicable. Confirm similar information about the alleged harasser.
• Ensure that executives are aware of the charge. 
• Tell all relevant departments and individuals to preserve all info, data and evidence related to the matter.
• Request a two-week extension of the charge response date.
• Thoroughly investigate the complaint.
• Assess the risk of a broader EEOC investigation into systemic harassment.

More Help for HR

Earlier this year, the EEOC issued updated guidance on harassment in the workplace. (If you missed it, check out: New EEOC Harassment Guidance Is Here: What You Need to Know to get caught up.)

Much of the guidance restated long-established principles relating to employer liability.

But it also broke some new ground as far as official EEOC guidance is concerned, particularly concerning bathroom and pronoun use. That didn’t go over well in some states.

Shortly after the guidance was released, 18 states sued the EEOC to challenge the parts of the guidance pertaining to restroom use and the use of preferred pronouns.