Sandoval, et al. v American Building Maintenance Industries, Inc., a/k/a ABM Industries Incorporated, d/b/a ABM Janitor
Immigrant Workers File Sexual Harassment Class Action Against Multinational Maintenance Company
Eight Latino women filed a civil rights lawsuit in Minneapolis on behalf of women who have experienced sexual harassment, including coerced sex and additional assaults in the workplace, as well as other discrimination and retaliation at work. The federal lawsuit alleges that the women's employer, ABM Industries Incorporated (ABM), has failed to address these civil rights violations for years, fostering a work environment where male supervisors have been free to sexually harass their female subordinates.
ABM has its headquarters in San Francisco, California and provides janitorial services at dozens of Minnesota locations, such as the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and downtown office towers. ABM is one of the largest facility services contractors listed on the New York Stock Exchange, employing nearly 75,000 people across North America.
The lawsuit also alleges that female janitors have been subjected to repeated sexual insults, physical intimidation, and other abuses by male supervisors. According to the federal complaint, ABM has ignored the pattern of civil rights violations in its workplace despite numerous reports by female janitors and others.
"The evidence we have seen to date is startling, it's as if these long-term employees are invisible to the company" said an attorney for the plaintiffs in the case.
The civil rights lawsuit asks the Court, among other things, to certify the case as a class action, to compel ABM's adoption and enforcement of employment policies that end the pattern of civil rights violations, and to monitor ABM's compliance with the law going forward.
The lawsuit involves women who have experienced sex harassment, including coerced sex and additional assaults in the workplace, as well as other discrimination and retaliation at work.
