Toyota Boshoku Jackson Tennessee, LLC and Toyota Boshoku America, Inc., manufacturers of automotive interior systems and powertrain and filtration products, violated federal law by subjecting a class of female employees to a sexually hostile workplace where male workers groped and insulted female employees and some managers offered advancement for sexual favors, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, since at least January 2021, local managers and supervisors for the auto parts manufacturer repeatedly demanded sexual favors from female workers for promotions and benefits while supervisory and nonsupervisory male employees physically and verbally harassed women in the workplace. The sexually harassing conduct caused some female workers to quit and the company retaliated against female workers who complained by firing them, the suit said.
“Employers have a duty to protect their female workers, especially in workplaces like automotive production plants where women historically have found few inroads to employment and advancement,” said Delner Franklin-Thomas, director of EEOC’s Memphis District. “By enacting strong policies and procedures to ensure women are free to pursue advancement based on their merits and that all complaints of sexual harassment are taken seriously and adequately investigated, employers can better fulfill their obligations under federal law to create a safe work environment free from harassment.”
The alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against any individual because of their sex or allowing other employees to harass them and from retaliating against an employee because he or she opposed unlawful discrimination. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Toyota Boshoku Jackson Tennessee, LLC, f/k/a Toyota Boshoku of Tennessee, and Toyota Boshoku America, Inc., Case No. 1:26-cv-01139) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Eastern Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
