Alabama Grocery Store Will Pay $50K to Settle Sexual Harassment Case After They Allowed a Customer to Grope it’s Female Employees ‘For Several Years’

A female employee at the Pic-N-Sav grocery store based in Evergreen, Alabama, would constantly complain to her supervisors about a customer that would routinely grope her and other employees. The customer would subject female employees to unwanted sexual touching for several years. On June 5, 2020, an employee called the police, and a trespass notice was issued to the harasser. However, the store failed to enforce the notice and he was still allowed to enter the store until September of that same year.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against The Houchens Food Group, Kentucky-based grocery chain. The Houchens Food Group has agreed to pay $50,000 to one of the victims and will put in place procedures and policies that protect female employees from harassment. The grocery chain will also be required to conduct annual compliance trainings in their Alabama stores. According to the EEOC, the employer has a duty to protect their employees from frequent or serious sexual harassment if they are aware of the ongoing harassment. It is an unlawful practice to ignore complaints and continue to allow this type of behavior and misconduct from an employee or customer.