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"
Federal Judge Rules EEOC Suit Against Dial Soap Can Proceed As Class
"Pattern or Practice" Case "
Chicago August 2001
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) has released the decision of the federal court here
holding that the agency's major class sexual harassment lawsuit
against the maker of Dial Soap will go ahead toward trial. Dial's
aggregate liability in the case could exceed $25 million, the largest
EEOC case in the area since its class sexual harassment case against
Mitsubishi Motors Manufacturing of America which was resolved three
years ago for $34 million. In the Dial Soap case the EEOC alleges a
wide-spread pattern or practice of sexual harassment of women at Dial's
Aurora, Illinois, facility stretching back as far as 1988. Dial has
extended significant efforts to avoid trial but taking the EEOC version
of the facts it appears that the work environment was sexually charged
including: physically-invasive behavior by male employees, touching
women's breasts and buttocks and behavior of even greater severity.
Pornographic magazines, calendars and sexual cartoons were prevalent and
Dial either knew or should have known of a plant-wide problem.
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ANALYSIS |
| Workplace
harassment prevention begins with the top of the
organization. Establishing and posting effective policies
and procedures that detail company expectations are a
corporate responsibility. Regular awareness training needs
to follow. The company management and supervisory levels
are most important in providing guidance, leadership and
enforcement. The reporting chain of command needs to be
followed where contravening incidents are reported,
investigated and addressed effectively. A tracking
mechanism needs to be in place in order for company
officials to be aware of the magnitude of problems.
Failure to effectively address incidents will create
confusion of standards and tends to encourage further
misbehavior.
Proactive programs are of minimal
cost and effort compared to the expenses of litigation,
image repair and reorganizing structure.
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