SEATTLE — A Grant County vegetable-packing house will pay $525,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general alleging a supervisor groped, propositioned and retaliated against female workers over a period of years.
The Seattle Times reported that state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the settlement Thursday with Quincy-based Horning Brothers. Ferguson said it’s believed to be the largest civil-rights resolution in Washington history.
The attorney general’s lawsuit was filed in April 2017 in U.S. District Court in Eastern Washington. It named Horning and onion-packing shed supervisor Hermilo Cruz as defendants, and sought enforcement actions under the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act.
In September, Judge Thomas Rice granted a motion for partial summary judgment, ruling that Horning Brothers had an ineffective discrimination policy and didn’t act promptly after being notified about alleged harassment.
