Sexual Harassment Claims

Sexual Harassment Claims. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

You normally think of sexual harassment as a big business kind of affair not something you’d find in an apple orchard. But a Yakima based apple producer has found themselves on the other side of this issue. Lacy Gray has the story.

GRAY: The court case against Evans Fruit claimed 14 women had been subjected to a sexually hostile workplace and plaintiffs claimed they were subjected to unwanted sexual advances by supervisors, including a foreman. Evans Fruit countered that none of the plaintiffs complained of harassment while they were employed there, and said most of the complaints could be traced directly to a disgruntled cousin of the foreman. A federal jury has rejected those claims. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had filed the case on behalf of the Evans Fruit orchard workers and counsel for the EEOC said they were disappointed by the ruling.

Thanks Lacy. It is interesting to note that there were no farmers or employers on the seven man, two women jury. Also, the foreman named in the case was fired after the lawsuit began or embezzling $500,000 from the company. According to the lead attorney for Evans Fruit the jury's verdict represents justice and a big dose of reality.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.