A medical marijuana dispensary in Maryland and its mother or father firm can pay $175,000 to settle a sexual harassment go well with introduced by the U.S. Equal Employment Alternative Fee.
The settlement was authorised Monday by a federal choose.
In accordance with Law360.com, the settlement requires Maryland Well being Administration, which does enterprise as Nature’s Medicines, and its mother or father, Arizona-based AMMA Funding Group, to pay $45,000 to dispensary clerk Russel Hicks, who first raised the complaints with the EEOC, and the remaining $130,000 to 5 different claimants named within the go well with.
The EEOC filed the lawsuit in September after first trying to succeed in a prelitigation settlement via its voluntary conciliation course of, in response to the company.
Nature’s Medicines and AMMA Funding Group additionally should practice workers on federal anti-discrimination legal guidelines, with an emphasis on stopping sex-based harassment, and implement and disseminate an anti-discrimination coverage, the EEOC stated.
The businesses additionally should report back to the EEOC on how they deal with any future complaints of sex-based discrimination and put up a discover of their office in regards to the settlement.
The unique EEOC go well with alleged {that a} common supervisor at Nature’s Medicines facility in Ellicott Metropolis, Maryland:
- Engaged in “unwelcome touching.”
- Made “extremely offensive sexual feedback to and about workers and prospects.”
- “Confirmed an worker a nude image on his telephone.”
The supervisor additionally advised workers that as a result of he was well-connected within the hashish trade, he may stop them from getting different trade jobs in the event that they complained.
Though workers complained for months in regards to the harassment, Nature’s Drugs, which operates dispensaries in six states, didn’t examine till after it realized a grievance had been filed with the EEOC.
“All employers, including these in newer and rising industries, have to be vigilant about their accountability to guard their workers from harassment,” stated Jamie Williamson, director of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District workplace.