CFB Inc. To Pay $165,000 To Settle DFEH Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Sacramento, California– CFB, Inc., a Shasta County company that operates assisted living homes for individuals with developmental disabilities, will pay $165,000 to settle a sexual harassment case involving an office assistant who claims she was sexually harassed by a company maintenance worker.

The office assistant filed a complaint with the DFEH on May 23, 2016 alleging that the maintenance worker groped her repeatedly and proposed a sexual encounter in the office.

DFEH found cause to believe a violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act occurred and on June 23, 2017 filed suit in Shasta County (Superior Court Case Number 187685) alleging CFB’s maintenance worker had sexually assaulted the complainant in the company’s Redding, California headquarters. The lawsuit also alleged that after the office assistant reported the harassment, management did not take action to investigate or discipline the harasser, and refused to limit the harasser’s interactions with the complainant. Other female employees provided evidence that they had complained of harassment by the same employee for years without management taking action.

“California employers are liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees if they know or should have known of the conduct and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action,” said DFEH Director Kevin Kish. “Employers have a legal duty to protect employees from sexually hostile work environments.”

To settle the case, CFB Inc. agreed to pay $165,000, immediately develop and implement a harassment prevention policy including a procedure for filing and investigating complaints and provide discrimination prevention training to all employees.

The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) is the state agency charged with enforcing California’s civil rights laws. CRD’s mission is to protect the people of California from unlawful discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and state-funded programs and activities, and from hate violence and human trafficking. For more information, visit calcivilrights.ca.gov.

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