St. Cloud YMCA subjected female employees to sexual harassment, lawsuit says
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The St. Cloud Area Family YMCA faces a lawsuit which accuses the organization of discriminating against a group of female employees by subjecting them to sexual harassment by a manager.
The civil lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which also says the YMCA failed to take prompt action to stop the harassment.
Since at least December of 2021, the manager made demeaning remarks about women, propositioned an employee, and made sexual comments about the employees' bodies, the lawsuit says.
One of the teenage employees reported the incidents to her supervisor and director, but the director refused to address the harassment and instead accused the employee of gossiping, the lawsuit states. The teenager resigned as a result.
The lawsuit requested that the court order the St. Cloud YMCA to institute policies that provide equal employment opportunities, and also provide the person who resigned with backpay.
The alleged conduct at the St. Cloud YMCA violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, says the EEOC. It also prohibits constructive discharge, which involves discriminatory conditions so intolerable that a reasonable employee would resign.
Greg Gack, the executive director of the St. Cloud YMCA, provided the following statement to WCCO:
We have been cooperating with the EEOC as this matter has unfolded. We take the safety and well-being of our employees very seriously. This is a personnel matter which has led to the termination of the employee in November 2022 following an investigation. Due to the confidentiality of this matter, we are not at liberty to share any other information at this time. We are very intentional in creating a healthy and positive work environment for all employees.