Pregnancy Discrimination/Sexual Harassment Suit Settles for $50,000
Body Firm Aerobics, which owned a former Gold's Gym at 1640 S. State St. in Orem, was accused by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of subjecting two former female workers to a hostile work environment.
The company allegedly demoted Erin Allen, a former sales associate, and cut her salary and work hours after learning she was pregnant. Another former employee, Andrea Liender, allegedly endured sexual harassment and intimidation from Littlebrant.
On Wednesday, the company agreed to pay $50,000 to settle the workplace discrimination lawsuit filed four years ago in federal court in Salt Lake City. The company settled without admission of guilt.
"We won the majority of the issues on summary judgment, and we're pleased to pay a nuisance value to avoid trial, and clearly, no class, no discrimination or harassment was ever proven," said Littlebrant, Body Firm's chief operating officer.
Liender initially filed the charge with the EEOC, alleging the company violated. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits employment discrimination based on a person's race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
Sally Shanley, supervisory trial attorney with the EEOC, said the agency was told Littlebrant made comments about Liender's dress and allegedly called her "a little girl." Some female employees, the EEOC suit said, were allegedly called "hot babes" or "superhot chicks" and told to "show more cleavage" to make more sales. Other derogatory comments were also alleged.
Liender received half of the $50,000 settlement in attorneys' fees and also reached a private settlement with Body Firm, Shanley said.
"She also filed a retaliation and constructive discharge claim because those statements were very offensive to her, and she resigned under those conditions," she said. "But the judge ruled there wasn't enough evidence to support it. That's why there's no back pay for Liender."
Allen, however, received $25,000 in back pay and damages for emotional distress.
"We were told Littlebrant made comments to her like 'Who would buy a gym membership from someone who is pregnant?' " Shanley said. "After she talked to a manager about her pregnancy, that's when she was put on a task force doing project work at a much lower rate of pay. She resigned under those conditions."
But Littlebrant disputed the allegations.
"If all these things were all true, then why did they settle for a paltry sum, and not go to trial?" he said. "We have several pregnant women working in our organization every day as salespeople and always will."
The EEOC has seen a 33 percent increase in pregnancy discrimination charges over the past 10 years, said Mary Jo O'Neill, the EEOC's regional attorney for the Phoenix District, in a statement Wednesday.
"We hope this settlement will remind employers about the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and deter future instances of this form of sex discrimination," she said.
The EEOC said the settlement required Body Firm's management and employees to undergo comprehensive training on anti-discrimination laws, review and revise its workplace discrimination policies and procedures, and post information about worker rights.
But MaryAnne Wood, Body Firm's attorney, disputed those terms, saying the only thing the company was required to do was to provide anti-discrimination training once in the next year.
"We didn't agree to revise our policies," Wood said. "Usually, when the EEOC settles cases like these, there must be a consent decree. Because we didn't agree we had done anything wrong, there was no consent decree."
Shanley disagreed.
"Sexual harassment in the workplace remains a serious problem. Employers must understand that sexual harassment can take many different forms," she said.
"Physical assaults like that depicted in the movie 'North Country' are one of the most egregious forms of workplace sex harassment. But subtler, seemingly more nuanced behavior can and often does also create a hostile work environment."
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