Timet paying to close bias suit

Kevin Rademacher

Tuesday, July 8, 2003 | 2:40 a.m.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Titanium Metals Corp. on Monday settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed on behalf of six current and former employees of the company's Henderson plant.

The settlement -- which includes no admission of wrongdoing on the part of Denver-based Titanium Metals (Timet) -- requires the company to pay a total of $217,500 to the six women. That includes $47,500 in legal fees for one woman who was represented by separate legal counsel.

Four of the women still work at the plant, and one of those women will be transferred to a new department at the Henderson plant as part of the agreement. None of the other women's employment status will change as a result of the agreement.

The current suit was filed in September 2000, but complaints of sexual harassment were first filed by a Timet worker with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in February 1998.

The employee said she was sexually harassed, demoted and given low evaluations because of her age and gender, but she settled with the company in April 1998 after the company promised to eliminate sexual harassment.

The current suit, however, was filed by the EEOC after additional alleged incidents of harassment against the original employee and an emergence of sexual harassment complaints by several other women after the 1998 settlement.

The 2000 suit claims the female employees were sexually harassed and subjected to a hostile work environment because of their gender. The plaintiffs demanded punitive damages for alleged "malicious and reckless" conduct by Timet officials.

In a November 2001 deposition, a plaintiff said a male employee would "come into the button lab when (she) was by herself, reeking of alcohol, put his hands all over (her), hug and try to kiss (her)." She said Timet officials retaliated against her after she filed a complaint with the EEOC on Jan. 22, 2001, alleging another male co-worker ripped open her pants in November 2000.

Other allegations of sexual harassment included the circulation of pornographic pictures, dirty jokes and e-mails.

Timet General Counsel Joan Prusse said the company denies all the claims and reached a settlement in order to "avoid the time and expense of further legal proceedings."

"Timet has all along believed that the plaintiff's claims were not valid," Prusse said. "But the company felt it was best, at this point, to put this case behind us."

Gregory Gonchanour, acting regional attorney for the EEOC, said the settlement was originally reached in April and was finalized in time to avoid what was expected to be a July court date.

He said the case is symptomatic of a continuing issue.

"Sexual harassment is still a serious problem in the U.S. work force that employers should pay attention to," Gonchanour said. "EEOC guidelines and Supreme Court rulings make it crystal clear that employers are responsible for taking swift action to address and correct sexual harassment once they become aware of it."