Christopher’s Dodge Ram to Pay $480,000 in EEOC Sex, Race and National Origin Harassment and Retaliation Case

DENVER – Chris The Crazy Trader, Inc., operating as Christopher’s Dodge Ram in Golden, Colorado, and formerly known as Christopher’s Dodge World, will pay $480,000 and provide other relief to settle a sex, race, and national origin harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Christopher’s Dodge Ram employees and managers used derogatory and demeaning language toward female employees and touched them inappropriately. The EEOC also alleged that a female employee observed a director at the dealership watching pornography while at work and soon after, he cornered her in a room and made inappropriate sexual comments. Christopher’s Dodge Ram fired her shortly after she complained about the encounter, according to the agency.

“The EEOC is committed to holding employers accountable for harassment in the workplace and to ensure every worker, regardless of their sex, race or national origin, is protected under the law,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office. “Employers have an obligation to prevent harassment from occurring, and the EEOC will hold employers accountable when they fail to prevent it or promptly remedy it where it exists.”

The EEOC also alleged a manager at Christopher’s offered female employees money in exchange for physical and/or sexual acts, made frequent sexually inappropriate comments messages on social media, and pressed his body inappropriately against employees of both sexes.

The lawsuit also asserted the manager participated in a racially hostile work environment at Christopher’s Dodge Ram, frequently commenting on black and/or African employees’ skin color and bodies. According to the EEOC, other Christopher’s Dodge Ram employees also made derogatory and racially offensive comments, including slurs, contributing to the racially hostile work environment towards black/African and Latino/Hispanic employees. The EEOC said the company knew about the harassment but failed to act and allowed it to worsen.

The company’s alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race and national origin. The EEOC filed suit in September 2021 (EEOC v. Chris The Crazy Trader, Inc., d/b/a Christopher’s Dodge Ram, f/k/a Christopher’s Dodge World, Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-02666-NYW-TPO) in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

The case was resolved by a three-year consent decree, which includes monetary relief totaling $480,000 for the aggrieved individuals, as well as targeted equitable relief, including EEO training for managers and employees, written discipline for harassers, EEO policies, notice posting, injunctive relief and ongoing reporting requirements.

The EEOC is represented in-house by Carey DeGenaro, Michael LaGarde, Megan K. O’Byrne and Karl Tetzlaff.

For more information about sexual harassment, visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment. For more information on harassment generally, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/harassment. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation. For more information on national origin discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination. For more information on race and color discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination.

The EEOC’s Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction over Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and parts 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.

Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC.gov)