A California winery owner will pay $1.49 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit that alleged it allowed male supervisors to grope female employees and expose themselves, among other disgusting acts.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the Wonderful Co. and its Paso Robles winery, Justin Vineyards, in 2022 over claims it allowed female employees and customers to endure sexual harassment.
U.S. District Court Judge Monica Ramirez Almadani for the Central District of California approved the payout to the plaintiffs on Thursday.
Female employees said their male supervisors committed such vile acts as “unwanted sexual touching of the buttocks, waist and breasts, rubbing of genitals on female subordinate employees, unwanted hugging and kissing, forcible kissing on the mouth, grabbing on the hands, snapping of bra straps, nibbling on the ear, biting on the shoulder, exposure of male employees’ private body parts, texting inappropriate photos, and stroking employees’ hair.”
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The supervisors also allegedly made comments like, “I want to smack that ass,” “that ass looks great in those jeans” or “your boobs look great in that top.”
Late-night texts would come through on female employees’ phones asking what they were wearing, the complaint said. Other examples included supervisors soliciting employees to be in a threesome or expressing a desire to get a divorce to romance an employee.
One staff member, Taylor Markey, said she was subjected to sexual harassment at the hands of James Norton, a manager at Justin Vineyards.
Markey said Norton slapped and grabbed her buttocks “forcibly” and put his hands around her waist. She also alleged he retaliated against her by yelling at her, making fun of her English accent, and taking her by the arm to human resources when he could not understand her.
Markey said nine of her co-workers also filed written reports about sexual harassment or abusive behavior.
The EEOC said the companies “allowed a class of female employees to be subjected to sexual harassment by male supervisors, co-workers and customers,” and did not properly handle the allegations.
Beatriz Andre, acting regional attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles District Office, commended the companies Friday “for reaching a resolution of this matter that will benefit all employees.”
Justin Vineyards told The Post that they took the matter “seriously” and the complaint “dates back many years.”
“We take nothing more seriously than maintaining the most respectful and positive work culture for every one of our colleagues, and we’re proud that our policies and standards foster that,” the company said in a statement.
“This matter dates back many years and was dealt with immediately and decisively the moment we became aware of any allegations of conduct that did not align with what is appropriate in the workplace.”
“With this agreement reached, we look forward to putting this chapter fully behind us and continuing to focus on the incredibly talented team we have in place today.”
Wonderful Co., which is headquartered in Los Angeles, also owns Fiji Water, Wonderful Pistachios and Wonderful Halos Mandarins.
The company is headquartered in Los Angeles.
