The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has accused Shimmick Construction Co. of retaliating against a crane and lifting operations supervisor at the company's Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project in Tennessee because she complained about hostile treatment on the project.
The case is the latest in EEOC's campaign to rid construction of sexual harassment and racial discrimination.
Shimmick, the prime contractor on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' lock replacement project near Chattanooga, is a union employer on the project.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Nashville, EEOC claims that the employee, an operating engineer who had been promoted to acting general foreman with responsibility for crane operation and lifts, was the subject of insubordination, intimidation and slurs based on being a woman.
During Shimmick's investigation of the alleged treatment and crude sexual insult made on the project site, a man to whom she was engaged, and who had worked on the project, provided information.
EEOC claims Shimmick's response to the alleged mistreatment was minimal and a short while afterward, two supervisors who EEOC says tolerated the mistreatment, retaliated against her by ordering her to work a nightshift and, if that was not possible, to resign.
Workplace law considers actions that force an employee to resign to be a "constructive discharge."
A representative of the Irvine, Calif.-based contractor said in a statement that the company "firmly disagrees with the characterization of the facts alleged in this complaint" but beyond that can't "comment on the pending litigation at this time." The company has never before been the subject of an EEOC complaint and has actively recruited and promoted women, said the representative.
The company maintains a resource group for female employees called Women at Shimmick.
“Shimmick notably has a long history of embracing diversity and fostering a culture that treats all employees with fairness, respect and dignity," the company said. "We hold our teams to the highest ethical standards, with honesty, safety and professionalism central to everything we do."
