Pero Family Farms Company to Pay $40,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Pero Family Farms Food Company, LLC, will pay $40,000 in compensatory damages and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC’s suit alleged Pero Family Farms maintained a sexually hostile work environment at its Benton Harbor, Michigan, facility by allowing a male employee to sexually harass a female co-worker until she obtained a personal protection order.

The alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits sexual harassment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Pero Family Farms Food Co., LLC, Case No. 1:23-cv-622) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Under the three-year decree settling the suit, Pero Family Farms is enjoined from subjecting female employees to sexual harassment, from creating or maintaining a sexually hostile work environment, and from retaliating against any employee because they complain of sexual harassment or participates in a sexual harassment investigation. Pero Family Farms will also revise its sexual harassment policies, train employees and human resources personnel on Title VII’s sexual harassment and retaliation provisions, and create and maintain a 24-hour hotline through which employees can report harassment complaints anonymously.

“No employee should ever have to suffer from sexual harassment,” said Dale Price, a senior trial attorney out of the EEOC’s Detroit office. “It should never take a personal protection order to get an employer to act. The Commission will vigorously protect the rights workers have to a harassment-free workplace.”

Indianapolis District Regional Attorney Kenneth Bird said, “Protecting employees from sexual harassment is an EEOC priority. Employers have a legal duty to remedy harassment when it comes to their attention.”

The EEOC’s Detroit Field Office is part of the Indianapolis District Office, which oversees Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and parts of Ohio.

For more information on sexual harassment, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.  Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.