Intrepid Gymnastics to Pay $50,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit

OXFORD, Miss.—Intrepid Gymnastics, LLC, a gymnastics studio formerly operating in Horn Lake, Mississippi, will pay $50,000 and provide other relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to allegations in the EEOC’s lawsuit, Intrepid’s president and majority owner sexually harassed a 19-year-old employee and other employees, including minors. He frequently offered money for sex, asked the teen and minor employees to procure other female employees for group sex, and sent sexually charged text messages. The EEOC also charged the company failed to provide its young coaches and other employees with a harassment policy defining conduct constituting sexual harassment, details on how to report harassment, and identifying the person responsible for receiving harassment reports.

Intrepid’s alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Intrepid Gymnastics, Inc. Case No.3:24-cv-00310) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Oxford Division, after first trying to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Intrepid filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations shortly after the EEOC filed its lawsuit. Besides the monetary settlement, the three-year consent decree settling the suit entered by U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock, requires Intrepid, should it ever reopen under its former business name or some other name, to create and distribute a sexual harassment policy and provide in-person sexual harassment training to all employees for three years.

“Far too often, young workers face harassment as they enter the workforce,” said Faye Williams, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Memphis District Office. “This case sends a clear message that the EEOC will hold employers accountable and remains firmly committed to ensuring every workplace is free from harassment and discrimination.”

Delner Franklin-Thomas, district director of the Memphis District Office, said, “Recent studies show that the number of American teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 has steadily increased throughout the years. It is important that employers recognize that the EEOC stands firm in its commitment to eradicate sexual harassment in the workplace and arm this nation’s young people with the resources they need to be successful in the workforce.”

For more information on sexual harassment, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment. 

The EEOC’s Youth@Work website (http://www.eeoc.gov/youth/) presents information for teens and other young workers about employment discrimination, including curriculum guides for students and teachers and videos to help young workers learn about their rights and responsibilities.

The EEOC’s Memphis District Office has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee and 17 counties in Northern Mississippi.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.