O’Reilly Auto Parts will pay $35,000 as part of a settlement with a South Side male employee who said he was groped and subjected to sexually offensive comments by his female manager.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had accused the retailer of violating the civil rights of one of its employees at 6619 S. Halsted St. The EEOC said the store failed to take action after the man complained.
The EEOC had filed the lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois on Aug. 28. The federal agency had noted that, starting in 2012 and continuing through June, it had sought to get the retailer to take steps to stop such behavior. The EEOC said it determined that it was unable to come to a voluntary settlement without filing the lawsuit.
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The agreement between O’Reilly Auto Parts and the EEOC was signed days later, on Sept. 3, according to court documents.
“Early resolution of employment discrimination litigation virtually always makes sense — for the employer, for the employee, for the EEOC, and, importantly, for the public interest,” John Hendrickson, the EEOC’s regional lawyer in Chicago, said in a statement.
“We don’t condone any of those things,” said a man who fielded a phone call at the store Friday afternoon. He said the female manager no longer works at the store. An O’Reilly spokesman said the company is “aware of the underlying case” but could not comment further.
The agreement also requires O’Reilly Auto to hire an outside lawyer or consultant to train workers in the district on how to prevent harassment and discrimination.
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