St. Cloud Area Family YMCA to Pay $140,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Settles Federal Suit Charging Fitness Center Subjected Employees, Including Teenagers, to Hostile Work Environment, Causing an Employee to Quit

MINNEAPOLIS – The St. Cloud Area Family YMCA will pay $140,000 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.

The EEOC charged in its suit that the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA subjected female employees, including two teenagers, to sexual harassment by one of its managers. The manager repeatedly propositioned one of the employees for sex, made unwelcome sexual comments about the female employees’ bodies and physical appearance, and made demeaning comments about women. The employees reported the harassment to management, which failed to take prompt action to stop the harassment. As a result, one of the employees had to resign to avoid the harassment, the EEOC said.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment. Title VII also prohibits constructive discharge, which involves discriminatory conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person would feel compelled to resign. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. St. Cloud Area Family YMCA, Civil Action No. 24-cv-03738 LMP-LIB) in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Under the consent decree settling the suit, the YMCA will pay $140,000 in compensation to three former female employees who were harassed. The decree also requires the YMCA to revise its harassment and discrimination policies, periodically survey its employees to monitor for any further sexual harassment and report future complaints of such harassment to the EEOC. The YMCA will also provide training to management employees about their obligations under federal law to prevent and take action against sexual harassment.

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

The EEOC’s Youth@Work website 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 Chicago District Office has jurisdiction over Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota, with Area Offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

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.