AMG Specialty Hospital to Pay $82,481 to Settle EEOC Sexual Harassment Case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Albuquerque-AMG Specialty Hospital, LLC and Acadiana Manage­ment Group, LLC, operating AMG Specialty Hospital in Albuquerque, N.M., will pay $82,481 and furnish other relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged that AMG violated federal law by subjecting a female director of case management, Moriah Smith, to a sexually hostile work environment, and that AMG’s failure to remedy the abuse ultimately forced her to leave the job.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the male chief clinical officer at AMG sexually harassed Smith by subjecting her to repeated sexual comments, sexually explicit texts to her work cellphone, and un­wanted physical touching at work. In response to her complaint, AMG did not take timely appropriate action. The EEOC also charged that AMG’s failure to prevent or remedy the harassment created intolerable working conditions for Smith, which forced her to resign.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico (EEOC v. Albuquerque-AMG Specialty Hospital, LLC and Acadiana Management Group, LLC,Civil Action No.1:21-cv-00363) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The consent decree settling the suit, signed by Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales today, requires AMG to pay Smith $82,481 in back pay and compensatory damages. The decree also requires AMG to take several affirmative steps to prevent sexual harassment and sex-based discriminatory practices from happening in the future. These steps include training, policy and procedure changes, record keeping, reporting, and discipline of the appropriate people at AMG.

“Employers are responsible for preventing and remedying the sexual harassment and discrimination of its employees,” said Supervisory Trial Attorney Loretta Medina of the EEOC’s Albuquerque Area Office. “Employers will be held responsible when they do not protect employees from sexual harassment, blame the victim for the way she dressed at work, and, after a cursory investigation, fail to take prompt action to appropriately discipline the harasser, a key element in stopping sexual harassment.”

Christopher Green, the area director of the EEOC’s Albuquerque Area Office, added, “Employers must take all forms of complaints of sex harassment seriously, investigate them thoroughly, promptly and appropriately, and  make sure that the employees who bring these EEO complaints feel safe in the workplace after reporting the harassing conduct.”

EEOC’s Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and  part of New Mexico (including Albuquerque).

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.