On September 25, 2002, female employees of CB Richard Ellis filed a lawsuit against their employer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The plaintiffs alleged that they had been discriminated against on the basis of their gender and asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as compensatory and punitive damages. Specifically, the plaintiffs contended that there was a sexually hostile and offensive work environment, that they were sexually harassed, and that they lost favorable job assignments and other job related benefits.

According to the PACER docket, the plaintiffs filed a motion for class certification on August 31, 2004. On September 9, 2006, they withdrew their motion for class certification, pending a settlement agreement. According to the PACER docket, the court approved a class action settlement agreement on January 9, 2008, according to which, defendant agreed to pay $3.4 million attorneys' fees, $35 million to named plaintiffs as incentive awards, and other monetary awards to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Additionally the settlement defined some equitable relief defendant should provide, such as no retaliation, having a harassment-free workplace policy, etc.

Kunyi Zhang - 01/20/2010


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