EEOC Sues Monro, Inc. for Hostile Work Environment

CHICAGO – Monro, Inc., which operates Car-X Tire and Auto stores across the Midwest, violated federal law by maintaining a work environment rife with sexual harassment at multiple locations in the Chicago area, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, multiple male employees were subjected to physical abuse of a sexual nature and graphic sexual comments, and at least one female employee was subjected to different and demean­ing work assignments and verbal harassment based on her gender.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits harassment based on sex. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (EEOC v. Monro, Inc., Civil Action No. 22-cv-0220) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The government’s litigation effort will be led by Trial Attorneys Adrienne Kaufman and Elizabeth Banaszak and supervised by Supervisory Trial Attorney Justin Mulaire.

“When management ignores reports of harassment, it sends a clear message to the workforce that this abusive behavior is permitted and even sanctioned by the company,” said Julianne Bowman, district director of the EEOC’s office in Chicago.

Gregory Gochanour, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, added, “Sexual harass­ment is illegal regardless of the sex of the victim or harasser. The EEOC will continue to bring suits like these to enforce the law.”

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

The EEOC’s Chicago District Office is responsible for processing charges of discrimin­ation, adminis­trative enforcement and the conduct of agency litigation in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota, with Area Offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

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.