EEOC Versus Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
Employment law has many facets all of which are intended to help create and maintain a safe workplace. Ty Hyderally has successfully litigated employment law in New Jersey and New York for many decades now. He also does some widespread traveling in order to work with corporations and companies which want to learn more about employment law. Hyderally educates a wide variety of audiences on the responsibilities of employers as well as employees to make sure that the workplace remains free from discrimination, harassment or retaliation. His educational instruction helps personnel prevent situations such as these and helps them know how to handle them properly and appropriately when they do occur. In instances where there is not enough education about employment law and its legal ramifications, situations can escalate and become way out of hand. This is what happened in this case in which there was a class action sexual harassment suit filed against Mitsubishi Motor Corp.
Class Action Suit
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) filed a class action suit on April 9. 1996 against Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. In the suit were more than 300 claims which were made by females who had worked at the company’s plant located in Normal, Illinois. Claims which went back as far as 1988 stated that they had repeatedly been subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace. According to the allegations by the EEOC, managers had been directly involved in circulating explicit pornographic photographs which contained male workers in various sexual acts. The case states that male workers had exposed themselves to female workers, written obscene graffiti and verbally and physically assaulted female workers at the Mitsubishi plant. In a second section of the same class action law suit, allegations include that neither the Employee Relations Department nor the management had responded to the situation appropriately or adequately. In many cases there was no response at all to the female worker’s complaints about sexual harassment. The EEOC desired to pursue this case in an attempt to bring the harassment to an end as well as to obtain monetary compensation for the women who had been victimized by this harassment.
Mitsubishi and EEOC Reach a Settlement
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation tried to bring up argument to the extent that there were time constraints on when these types of cases could be filed and that some of the older cases were not eligible for inclusion in this particular class action law suit. The court quickly dismissed this idea and rejected this argument due to the lack of a statute of limitations and all cases were eligible since the EEOC filed the suit in a timely fashion upon hearing about the complaints. Mitsubishi and the EEOC reached a settlement in June of 1998. According to the terms of the settlement, Mitsubishi agreed to pay the affected workers compensation of $34 million. Per the terms the company had to agree that they would revamp their policies regarding sexual harassment and that they would adopt a zero tolerance policy regarding such matters. The company had to revise their existing policies and further commit to creating a proper procedure for filing complaints as well as provide sexual harassment training for all of the company’s employees. The company would also remain under review by an independent panel that would monitor the Normal, Illinois plant for adequate progress. Mitsubishi made many changes in their vigilant fight against sexual harassment. They developed and implemented their zero tolerance policy and also hired Lynn Martin who was the former Secretary of Labor. Martin was hired specifically to help overhaul their entire system as well as set the new procedures.
Class Action Suit
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) filed a class action suit on April 9. 1996 against Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. In the suit were more than 300 claims which were made by females who had worked at the company’s plant located in Normal, Illinois. Claims which went back as far as 1988 stated that they had repeatedly been subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace. According to the allegations by the EEOC, managers had been directly involved in circulating explicit pornographic photographs which contained male workers in various sexual acts. The case states that male workers had exposed themselves to female workers, written obscene graffiti and verbally and physically assaulted female workers at the Mitsubishi plant. In a second section of the same class action law suit, allegations include that neither the Employee Relations Department nor the management had responded to the situation appropriately or adequately. In many cases there was no response at all to the female worker’s complaints about sexual harassment. The EEOC desired to pursue this case in an attempt to bring the harassment to an end as well as to obtain monetary compensation for the women who had been victimized by this harassment.
Mitsubishi and EEOC Reach a Settlement
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation tried to bring up argument to the extent that there were time constraints on when these types of cases could be filed and that some of the older cases were not eligible for inclusion in this particular class action law suit. The court quickly dismissed this idea and rejected this argument due to the lack of a statute of limitations and all cases were eligible since the EEOC filed the suit in a timely fashion upon hearing about the complaints. Mitsubishi and the EEOC reached a settlement in June of 1998. According to the terms of the settlement, Mitsubishi agreed to pay the affected workers compensation of $34 million. Per the terms the company had to agree that they would revamp their policies regarding sexual harassment and that they would adopt a zero tolerance policy regarding such matters. The company had to revise their existing policies and further commit to creating a proper procedure for filing complaints as well as provide sexual harassment training for all of the company’s employees. The company would also remain under review by an independent panel that would monitor the Normal, Illinois plant for adequate progress. Mitsubishi made many changes in their vigilant fight against sexual harassment. They developed and implemented their zero tolerance policy and also hired Lynn Martin who was the former Secretary of Labor. Martin was hired specifically to help overhaul their entire system as well as set the new procedures.