Goodsell/Wilkins to Pay $730,000 in EEOC Race, National Origin and Sex Harassment Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES – Orange County-based construction company Goodsell/Wilkins, Inc. will pay $730,000 and furnish extensive injunctive relief to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that, since at least 2019, Goodsell/Wilkins’ supervisors, leads and coworkers subjected a class of male Hispanic or Latino workers to severe or pervasive harassment based on their race or national origin. Workers were referred to as “wetbacks” and “Home Depoteros.” These workers alleged they were also subjected to same-sex sexual harassment, such as being called offensive, derogatory slurs like “whores,” “f—gs, and “queers” in Spanish. The EEOC further alleged that employees received sexually explicit threats meant to pressure them to work faster and harder.

According to the lawsuit, Goodsell/Wilkins failed to take prompt and effective action despite receiving harassment complaints, allowing the harassment to continue unabated. Further, the EEOC asserted that the company retaliated against workers who brought up complaints of harassment by terminating them shortly after they complained, or refusing to give employees who resisted the harassment further work opportunities.

Such alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits harassment on the basis of race, national origin and sex, and retaliation for reporting the harassment. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Case No. 8:22-cv-01765) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process. The four-year consent decree settling the case was entered by U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb on February 12, 2025.

In addition to the $730,000 in monetary relief to be distributed through a claims process, the consent decree requires Goodsell/Wilkins to change its employment practices to prevent future discrimination, harassment and retaliation. This includes robust training sessions for all employees, including managers, supervisors, leads and human resource employees; updating anti-harassment, anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation policies to be readily communicated to employees; and improved reporting mechanisms to ensure that employees can report unlawful conduct. Goodsell/Wilkins must provide periodic reports to the EEOC with information regarding any complaints of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace.

A claims process will be set up to compensate workers who were harassed based on race and/or national origin (Hispanic/Latino) or sex (male). If you are interested in making a claim, please contact EEOC at 213-785-3059 or Goodsell-litigation@eeoc.gov.

“The EEOC continues to see the construction industry failing to address discrimination and harassment in the workplace,” said Anna Park, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles district. “By accepting and excusing this conduct as an industry, it normalizes discriminatory behavior and allows for the insidiousness of harassment to fester and become part of a larger culture that federal law will not allow to continue. It is the contractors’ and subcontractors’ obligation to comply with Title VII to take prompt corrective and preventative measures when they receive reports of harassment and retaliation. No employer is above the law.”

EEOC’s Los Angeles District Director Christine Park-Gonzalez said, “We commend the courageous workers who came forward to report the harassment and retaliation they endured. Their bravery led to the measures now in place to protect the civil rights of workers at the company for years to come.”

This lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s Los Angeles District Office, one of five component offices of the agency’s Los Angeles District. The Los Angeles District Office has jurisdiction over parts of California and Nevada, the Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Wake Island.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.