Olophius Perry Remarks

My name is Olophius Perry, and I would like to welcome members of the media for the announcement of this very important settlement.  For those of you who don't know, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC, is a federal civil rights agency that enforces laws against employment discrimination, which includes sexual harassment.  As the Los Angeles District Director, I oversee the investigation of charges of discrimination filed by the members of the public.  If we find evidence of discrimination or harassment, our legal unit then may file a lawsuit on behalf of victims.  

Unfortunately, we are seeing a disturbing trend in the seriousness of the sexual harassment complaints coming through our district, which includes the case we will discuss today.  It is our hope that both workers and employers alike will learn from this experience. We hope that workers will feel empowered to come forward if they are victims of harassment or discrimination and that employers will be more proactive in preventing such abuses from occurring in the workplace and train their staff accordingly.  

Anna Park, our Regional Attorney for the district, oversaw the litigation of the lawsuit filed against ABM.  She will explain the details in this case.