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Press Release 10-12-2010

EEOC Accuses Gulfport-Based Industrial Subcontractor of Retaliation

EEOC Alleges Worker's Sexual Harassment Complaint Costs Her Job

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit September 29, 1010 against a Gulfport, Miss.-based industrial subcontractor, charging that the company violated federal law when it fired a female employee in retaliation for her complaint about sexual harassment.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, filed September 29, 2010 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Southern Division, Analytic Stress Relieving, Inc. (ASRI) terminated Ashley Maygar because she complained that another employee and acting supervisor engaged in offensive and unwanted sexually suggestive behavior in the workplace.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from employment discrimination because of their race, color, sex, religion or national origin, as well as retaliation for complaining about it. The EEOC filed the suit, (1:10-cv-00478-HSO -JMR), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement with Analytic Stress.

"Title VII ensures that an employee who believes she is the victim of sexual misconduct has a right to seek relief from the employer without retribution," said Delner Franklin-Thomas, district director for the EEOC's Birmingham District Office. "Without that protection, employees may feel forced to suffer in silence."

C. Emanuel Smith, regional attorney for the EEOC's Birmingham District Office, said, "This agency will pursue all avenues to ensure that employees in Mississippi are able to resist sexual harassment in its earliest stages without fear of losing their jobs or being otherwise penalized."

The EEOC's Birmingham District Office is responsible for processing charges of discrimination, administrative enforcement, and the conduct of agency litigation in Alabama, Mississippi and Northern Florida, with additional offices in Jackson, Miss., and Mobile, Ala.

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.