Upstate N.Y. Company Settles Sex-Harassment Case for $375K

A Rochester, N.Y. highway and industrial safety products company is paying $375,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by 18 employees.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued executives and sales staff at American Industrial Sales Corp. on behalf of 18 female workers, four of them teenagers. The women said they were victims of inappropriate touching, sexual advances and vulgar sexual remarks.

A consent decree settling the lawsuit was approved this week by a federal court judge, the agency said.

Margaret Malloy, an EEOC lawyer who handled the case, says women and girls should not have to endure sexual harassment in the workplace, especially not from the highest levels of the corporation.