In May 2006, the EEOC's Philadelphia District Office filed suit in U.S. District Court, District of Maryland, against EMS Innovations, Inc. The suit alleged that the owner of this small business violated Title VII by subjecting his female employees to sexual harassment by making constant sexual advances, arranging for adjoining hotel rooms on business trips and trying to convince the women who worked for him to have an affair, and engaging in other similar behavior that created a hostile work environment for women.

The defendant moved to dismiss the case twice, once for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, and again for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, alleging that the EEOC did not have standing because it had not completed a proper investigation prior to bringing suit. Both motions were denied, and the case ended up being resolved through a consent judgment in April of 2008. EMS Innovations was ordered to pay a total of $115,000 to the women alleging sexual harassment. The company was also required to implement anti-discrimination training for all of its employees, and its owner and supervisory personnel were prohibited from making advances towards female employees.

The terms of the agreement were to run for 3.5 years. The docket sheet does not show any further enforcement took place; the case was presumably closed in 2011.

Jason Chester - 05/27/2008
- 06/10/2017


compress summary