Federal Investigation Determined Grocery Subjected Employees to Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

LOS ANGELES – Sprouts Farmers Market, a national grocery chain featuring natural foods, has settled a federal charge of sex discrimination including sexual harassment and retaliation filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC, Sprouts Farmers Market, located in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, subjected a group of employees to sexual harassment and retaliated against them for complaining about the harassment.

The EEOC investigated the allegations and found reasonable cause to believe that Sprouts Farmers Market violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

Without admitting liability, Sprouts entered into a one-year conciliation agreement with the EEOC. According to the terms of the agreement, the company will provide $265,000 to a class of individuals affected by the harassment and retaliation. Additionally, Sprouts agreed to obtain an external Title VII consultant/monitor; update its policies as necessary; provide training to all personnel in the affected district on Title VII, sexual harassment, and retaliation; and update its investigation process. The EEOC will monitor compliance with this agreement.

“People have the right to work in a harassment-free setting that values input from employees rather than penalizes them for coming forward,” said Patricia Kane, acting director of the EEOC’s Los Angeles district. “We commend Sprouts for addressing the concerns in this charge and for providing relief for the class. And we encourage employers to review and revise policies and procedures regularly and provide training on harassment to all employees.”

To find out more information about sexual harassment please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment. For more information on retaliation, visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.