Three female employees of SunTrust Banks, Inc., have agreed to a $300,000 sexual harassment settlement. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission pursued the sexual harassment claims against the bank on allegations that one of its managers in Sarasota repeatedly harassed three female employees. In one instance, the man was accused of trapping a young woman behind a counter.
The Florida bank manager was accused of telling one woman to wear her bathing suit to the office. He was further accused of grabbing, fondling and caressing employees. The employees say that he would stare at women’s breasts and make unwelcome comments about their bodies and breasts. The bank officially denied the allegations presented in the lawsuit.
According to the EEOC, the female employees who were subjected to the abuse made numerous complaints. Nevertheless, their complaints were ignored, and the bank did not take appropriate action to end the harassment, even after the bank’s human resources division was informed. During the investigation, the bank manager resigned voluntarily, although the EEOC says that the bank later rehired him.
The allegations made in this lawsuit are serious, but numerous Florida employees are subjected to this kind of brutish behavior on the job every single workday. It is important for the victims of this kind of abuse to know that they may have the ability to put a stop to the abuse by filing sexual harassment claims in court. In addition to making the abuse stop, victims may also be eligible to receive financial compensation for the damages they have suffered as a result of the harassment.
Source: businessinsurance.com, “SunTrust settles sexual harassment charges against branch manager for $300,000“, Judy Greenwald, June 11, 2014