Academy Mortgage to Pay $75,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment Charge

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Academy Mortgage Corporation, an Albuquerque mortgage lending company, has entered into a public conciliation agreement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to resolve a sex discrimination and retaliation charge, the federal agency announced today.

This agreement resolves a charge of discrimination filed against Academy Mortgage and ends an investigation in which the EEOC determined there was reasonable cause to believe Academy Mortgage violated Title VII. A former supervisor at the company is alleged to have sexually harassed female workers, and retaliated against them when they complained or rejected his advances. He is also alleged to have repeatedly texted inappropriate requests for dates and romantic overtures to a female worker, as well as engaged in unwelcome physical touching of female workers.

The charge also alleged that when a female worker complained, the company failed to take appropriate action to remedy the supervisor’s behavior. Further, Academy Mortgage retaliated against her by transferring her to another branch and ultimately firing her. The former supervisor then harassed a second worker, the charge alleged.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment, and retaliation.

Following the EEOC’s investigation, the parties engaged in the pre-litigation conciliation process, which resulted in a year-long agreement requiring Academy Mortgage to provide monetary relief totaling $75,000 to two women and to conduct sexual harassment and discrimination training.

“We applaud Academy Mortgage for agreeing to an early resolution of this charge,” said April Klug, director of the Albuquerque Area Office. “This resolution helps give the affected workers closure and highlights the importance of sexual harassment training. Managers have an obligation to maintain workplaces free from harassment and to appropriately respond to harassment complaints.”

For more information about sexual harassment, visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment. To learn more about retaliation, visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction over complaints in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and part of New Mexico.

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.