Dillard's pays $110,000 to settle harassment suit.(Inside Business)

Dillard's Inc. will pay $110,000 and provide remedial relief to settle a same-sex harassment lawsuit involving two male victims at a store in Orlando, Fla., the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said last week.

According to the EEOC's suit, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Dillard's permitted a sexually hostile work environment for men at its Fashion Square Mall store. The EEOC charged that a male supervisor engaged in verbal and physical sexual harassment of a male sales associate and a young dockworker when the supervisor exposed himself, propositioned the men and made sexually explicit and derogatory comments. The EEOC said Dillard's ignored complaints about the harasser.

Under the terms of the consent decree, the Dillard's Fashion Square Mall store must distribute policies to its work force on preventing sexual harassment and retaliation; conduct sexual harassment and anti-discrimination training; train employees responsible for investigating sexual harassment complaints; submit to monitoring throughout the decree's three-year duration; and post a notice about the resolution of the case. Any future sexual harassment complaints will become part of the alleged harasser's permanent work file.

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