National retail giant Dillard’s, Inc., has agreed to pay $110,000 to settle a same-sex harassment lawsuit involving male employees.
In the lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that the company permitted a sexually hostile work environment for men at its Fashion Square Mall store in Orlando, Florida.
The EEOC alleged that a male supervisor engaged in verbal and physical sexual harassment of a male sales associate and a young dockworker when the supervisor exposed himself, propositioned the men, and made sexually explicit and derogatory comments. The EEOC said that Dillard’s ignored complaints about the harasser.
In settling the lawsuit, the company admitted no wrongdoing.
Last year, 13,867 sexual harassment charges were filed with the EEOC and state or local agencies nationwide, an increase of 11 percent from the prior year and the highest level since 2002. Of the total sexual harassment charges, 16 percent were filed by men, up from 12 percent in the late 1990s.
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