A Florida septic tank company paid $82,000 to settle a federal same-sex harassment suit
A company that services Central Florida septic tanks paid $82,500 to a former truck driver who alleged the company’s boss sexually harassed him verbally, physically, then retaliated when the driver took his complaints to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
The consent decree settling the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission case against Shelley’s Septic Tank states, officially, the company still denies the allegations about company President John David Shelley and admits no violations of law.
But, in addition to the cash, the company must hire a third-party human resources consultant to deal with harassment and discrimination complaints as well as create an official anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy. The consent decree lasts three years.
The suit claimed that Richard Colon went to work at Shelley’s, also called Shelley’s Environmental System, based in the Orlando suburban area of Zellwood, in February 2017. The suit says “throughout his employment, Shelley’s subjected Mr. Colon to a sexually hostile work environment.”
Physical harassment alleged in the suit included Shelley “stroking Mr. Colon’s arms and leg;” “...blowing kisses at Mr. Colon;” and, “on one occasion, Mr. Shelley used a stick to poke Mr. Colon between his butt cheeks.”
The suit claims this was in addition to Shelley calling Colon “buttercup” on a “nearly daily basis;” saying Colon was “pretty” when he shaved or trimmed his beard; and, putting “his hands in a diamond around his penis and told Mr. Colon to “back up to this.”
Four days after, the lawsuit claimed, Shelley “grabbed Mr. Colon’s buttocks over his clothes and ran his finger between Mr. Colon’s butt cheeks,” Colon complained to the sheriff’s office on May 4, 2018. After deputies talked to Shelley about Colon’s allegations, the suit claims, the next time Colon showed up for work, on May 8, 2018, he was fired.
This story was originally published November 29, 2021 at 12:02 PM.
