The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleges in a lawsuit that cannabis company Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. violated federal law by unlawfully sexually harassing female employees at its Collinsville, Illinois, facility.
According to the EEOC lawsuit, as at least as early as February 2021, the Collinsville facility manager and other male employees continued to harass female employees, including touching, sexual comments, sexual advances, requests for sexual relations and comments about the appearance and bodies of female employees and customers.
Several female employees complained of sexual harassment to Ascend’s human resources department, but the company failed to stop the behavior. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said at least one woman was forced to resign because the conditions were intolerable.
The conduct alleged in the EEOC complaint violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits harassment because of an employee’s sex. The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (EEOC v. Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc., Case No. 3:26-cv-378) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the administrative mediation process.
Source: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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Illinois Marijuana Litigation
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