In April 2002, the Little Rock Area Office of the EEOC brought this lawsuit against Fred's Stores of Tennessee, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas alleging discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, the complaint alleged the defendant subjected the complaining parties, several female employees, to a hostile work environment consisting of inappropriate sexual actions, overtures, and behavior, resulting in the constructive discharge of the complainants. The complainants intervened in the suit in March 2003. Following a settlement conference, the parties settled the dispute in August 2003 through a consent decree.

The two-year consent decree, containing a non-discrimination and non-retaliation clause, required the defendant to: post and distribute its anti-retaliation policy, provide training to managers and employees of the facility, expunge the employment record of one complaining party and provide a neutral reference, refrain from rehiring the store manager accused of sexual harassment, and pay $54,500 to be distributed among six individuals.

Daisy Manning - 10/09/2007


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