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Press Release 09-28-2011

Mount Vernon Mills, Inc. Sued By EEOC For Sexual Harassment

Young Female Employee Subjected to Unwelcome Touching and Company Failed to Stop It, Federal Agency Charged

Cuero, TEXAS–  Mount Vernon Mills, Inc. violated federal law when it subjected an 18 year-old  female employee to a hostile work environment by, among other things, co-workers  touching and propositioning her, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity  Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

The EEOC charges in  its suit (Case No. 6:11-cv-52, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern  District of Texas at Victoria) charged that Mount Vernon Mills, Inc. allowed  sexual harassment of a young female employee. The misconduct included unwelcome  sexual touching of the teenager, as well as a pattern of crude statements, the  EEOC charged. Other  allegations included that the company had knowledge of the sexual harassment  but failed to stop it.

"There  is no excuse for allowing a young female employee to work in such a sexually  hostile and abusive work environment," said Judith G. Taylor,  supervisory trial attorney of the EEOC's San Antonio Field Office. "The Commission takes seriously its mission to  prevent this kind of offensive workplace conduct from continuing."

Sexual harassment violates Title  VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The  EEOC filed suit against Mount Vernon Mills, Inc. after investigating the case,  finding merit, and first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation  settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks compensatory  damages and punitive damages for the victim, as well as injunctive relief.

"Employees  have a legal right to work in an environment that is free of sexual  harassment," said EEOC Trial Attorney Patrick Connor of the agency's San  Antonio Field Office. "Upon notification of a complaint of sexual harassment,  employers must take prompt action to correct the misconduct of its employees  while protecting the workers subjected to the harassment."

The  EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting discrimination in  employment. Further information about  the Commission is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.