PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal agency says that Willamette Tree Wholesale Inc. has agreed to pay $150,000 to four Oregon farmworkers to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Thursday the Molalla company failed to investigate or respond to a report of a female worker threatened and sexually assaulted repeatedly by a supervisor.
The commission said in its lawsuit the woman’s sister, also an employee, was also harassed by the same supervisor. But the commission said Willamette Tree Wholesale fired the woman, her sister, her sister’s husband and a family member who worked there.
Under a consent decree filed in U.S. District Court, Willamette Tree Wholesale agreed to pay $150,000 to the four workers and to provide anti-discrimination training for its managers, supervisors and employees.
