The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is taking legal action against Mueller Co., LLC and IH Services, Inc. Apparently, these companies didn’t do enough to prevent a sexually-hostile work environment for female employees, and things got worse when the women tried to speak up.

What Happened

The EEOC claims that between May 2018 and August 2020, female employees of IH Services were assigned to clean Mueller’s fire hydrant manufacturing plant in Alabama. While they were there, some male Mueller employees got seriously out of line. They touched the women inappropriately, made crude comments about their bodies and sex lives, and even tried to rape one of the workers.

You’d think that after multiple complaints to managers from both companies, they’d take action to stop the harassment, right? Wrong. Instead of fixing the problem, IH Services hit back by cutting the women’s hours, moving them to crummy shifts, and suspending or firing them.

Legal Drama

This whole situation goes against Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is supposed to protect people from a hostile work environment based on sex and retaliation for speaking out. The EEOC tried to settle things peacefully, but now they’re taking it to court. They want Mueller and IH Services to pay up for the harm they caused and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

A Reminder for Employers

EEOC Birmingham District Director, Bradley Anderson, reminds us that employers need to keep their workplaces free of sexual harassment—even when the bad guys don’t work for them. Companies also have to protect their contract workers from harassment by their own employees.

Marsha Rucker, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham District, chimed in too. She said the EEOC is all about making sure employers investigate sexual harassment complaints and do what’s needed to fix the situation. The agency won’t back down when it comes to helping victims of workplace harassment and those who face retaliation for standing up for their rights.