UPS Freight settles sex harassment suit
UPS Freight has agreed to pay $120,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by a California employee, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The EEOC said a facility manager at the Benicia, Calif. warehouse of Overnite Transportation on almost a daily basis publicly insulted and criticized Joanne Nijem, who was a clerk. The 44-year-old Hispanic woman was the only female working at the facility at the time. The EEOC says that by contrast, criticisms of male employees were handled behind closed doors. Nijem was terminated less than a week after she complained to the company hotline in December 2004.
Sandy Springs-based UPS acquired the freight forwarding company in May 2005, after the harassment had occurred.
UPS’s freight division denied culpability but agreed to pay the monetary damages, in addition to giving training to the management and human resources officials involved in Nijem’s termination. UPS spokesman Norman Black UPS is “satisfied” with the resolution of the case, that the company “does not tolerate harassment or retaliation.” He added that the parties to the case no longer work for the company.
