Jury Finds For EEOC In Sexual Harassment Case

The EEOC recently won a jury award of $250,000 in compensatory damages for a case alleging sexual harassment against Costco Wholesale Corp.  The lawsuit alleged that for more than a year Costco did not prevent a male customer from harassing and stalking one of its female employees.  She allegedly suffered unwelcome advances, touching, and stalking.  The employee repeatedly reported the customer’s inappropriate conduct to Costco management.  Indeed, the customer himself even reported that he had ongoing contact with the Costco employee, but Costco did nothing to stop the harassment.  The employee was eventually forced to get a restraining order against the customer.  The EEOC argued that Costco’s failure to attempt to prevent the harassment created a hostile work environment for the employee, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  See EEOC v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 14-cv-6553 (N.D. Ill.).