‘Our clients bravely spoke out.’ Fresno women win settlement in sexual harassment suit
Three Fresno immigrant women have reached a settlement in a lawsuit over workplace sexual harassment accusations against a national janitorial company with a history of abuse.
Brenda Adams, senior attorney at Equal Rights Advocates, said as part of the agreement filed Friday, the parties cannot disclose the monetary amount of the settlement. However, she described it as “a life changing amount” for the women.
Under the settlement, ABM Industries, Inc. has agreed to make several policy and practice changes related to sexual harassment training, sexual harassment resources, sexual harassment investigations and new safety protocols.
Equal Rights Advocates, a civil rights organization, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the three women in February 2019. The suit was filed against ABM Industries, Inc., ABM Janitorial Services, Inc., ABM Onsite Services West, Merchants Building Maintenance Company, and two male supervisors.
“Our clients really led this case,” Adams told The Bee in an email. “They didn’t just bring this case to seek justice for themselves, but to ensure that these atrocities don’t happen again to future women janitors.”
ABM Industries, in a statement to The Bee late Friday, said the company was pleased to have resolved this matter in collaboration with Equal Rights Advocates. The company, the statement said, is committed to fostering a “professional and safe working environment” for its employees.
The individuals involved in the women’s claims of sexual harassment are no longer employed by the company.
“Upon learning of these alleged incidents, we took immediate action by suspending the accused individuals, retaining an independent third party to investigate the claims, following up with the employees on their well-being, and subsequently terminated the accused individuals immediately after our investigation concluded,” the company said in its statement. “We take any claim of sexual harassment very seriously and remain committed to providing a safe workplace for all.”
Adams said her organization was proud of the women “for their bravery in speaking out about what they endured.”
“We are hopeful the changes set forth in this settlement agreement will bring an end to the insidious culture of ABM supervisors covering for each other’s sexual harassment and assault,” she said.
The local offices were closed after the three women filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Although the local office now shows as open online, the phone number listed has been disconnected.
The undisclosed monetary settlement will be split between the three who faced alleged sexual harassment, such as rape, sexual assault, retaliation, blacklisting and other workplace violations, according to Equal Rights Advocates.
Company has history of sexual harassment settlements
ABM has been sued at least 10 times in the last 10 years in California over sexual harassment or sexual assault, according to the organization. Across the country, the company also has a history of multiple lawsuits, settlements and workplace complaints related to sexual harassment.
The three women worked the night shift and experienced the alleged sexual harassment at the hands of their supervisors at ABM. The women were laid off after filing their EEOC complaints.
“As a result of the plaintiffs’ complaints, the EEOC separately investigated and found that ABM had subjected the plaintiffs and other similarly-situated female janitorial workers to civil rights violations,” the organization said in a statement. “EEOC negotiations in that case are ongoing.”
When two of the three women broke their silence about the alleged abuse in 2019, the women said they had endured the abuse over several years by their supervisors.
“I suffered a lot with the person who I worked with — my supervisor,” one of the three women, Araceli Sanchez, said in 2019. “He harassed me, he touched me, he said things to me verbally. He made me suffer a lot. I didn’t know what to do because he said that if I said anything no one would believe me because he was the boss and I just was a worker.”
Under the settlement, the company will implement the new policy changes under the guidance of experts at Equal Rights Advocates, according to the organization.
The women were also represented by Fresno law firm Lang Richert & Patch, and the costs associated with the lawsuit were supported by the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 12:26 PM.
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