MARSHALLS TO PAY $110,000 TO SETTLE EEOC SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSUIT

Women Abused at Jacksonville Store Federal Agency Charged

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Framingham, Mass.-based TJX Companies, Inc., doing business as Marshalls, a discount retail store chain, will pay $110,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The EEOC had charged in its lawsuit that beginning in September 2004, a male supervisor at the Jacksonville, N.C., Marshalls store subjected Machelle Allison, Shauntel Boyd, and a class of similarly situated female employees to sexual harassment, including unwelcome sexual comments, sexual gestures and sexual touching.  The EEOC also asserted that Marshalls knew or should have known about the sexual harassment and failed to take prompt and effective corrective action to stop it.  The alleged harasser did not supervise any of the victims of the harassment, who all worked in the same store as the alleged harasser.

Sexual harassment violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. TJX Companies d/b/a Marshalls, Civil Action no. 7:07cv00066[F]) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina after first attempting to reach a voluntary resolution. 

The consent decree settling the lawsuit provides $110,000 to Boyd and Allison.  The decree also contains significant remedial relief, including a provision that Marshalls train its managers, supervisors and employees in 11 Marshalls stores regarding Title VII's legal requirements, post a notice about EEO laws and report certain allegations of sexual harassment that it becomes aware of to the EEOC. 

"These victims complained about harassment but it continued anyway," said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for the EEOC's Charlotte District Office, which initiated this lawsuit.  "We hope that this case reminds employers that they have an obligation to take action to stop such abuses in the workplace once it becomes known to them."

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.  Further information about the EEOC is available on the agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov.