Weis Markets has agreed to pay $75,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging sexual harassment and disability discrimination. The case arose from incidents at a Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, location where a supervisor created a sexually hostile work environment for an employee through inappropriate comments and physical contact. The EEOC also highlighted failures by other supervisors to report or stop the misconduct. Additionally, Weis Markets mandated the harassed employee to undergo counseling through an employee assistance program, despite lacking evidence that she couldn’t perform her job or posed a risk.
The EEOC filed the lawsuit in October 2023 under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This settlement marks another instance where a grocery store chain has faced legal action over discrimination issues. Notably, Sprouts Farmers Markets previously paid $280,000 for allegedly denying accommodations to deaf applicants, while other grocers like Safeway, Kroger, and Pic-N-Sav have also faced allegations of permitting sexual harassment in the workplace.
EEOC’s Philadelphia District Director Jamie Williamson criticized Weis Markets for compelling the employee into a mental health program, suggesting it could violate ADA protections against non-job-related medical examinations. Despite the settlement, EEOC Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence noted that Weis Markets cooperated in good faith, and the resolution aims to compensate the affected employee fairly while improving workplace conditions moving forward.