EEOC Sues Christopher’s Dodge Ram for Sexual and Racial Harassment, Retaliation

Chris the Crazy Trader, Inc., doing business as Christopher’s Dodge Ram in Golden, Colorado, violated federal law by subjecting female and male employees to sexually hostile work environments and subjecting Black/African and Latinx/Hispanic employees to a racially hostile work environment, among other unlawful discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed Sept. 30, 2021.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Christopher’s Dodge Ram employees and managers called female employees by obscene epithets and even touched them inappropriately. The EEOC alleged that a female employee observed a director at the dealership watching pornography while at work and that, soon after, he cornered her in a room and made inappropriate sexual comments. Christopher’s Dodge Ram fired her shortly after she complained about the encounter, according to the agency.

The EEOC also alleged that a manager offered female employees money in exchange for sexual acts, made frequent sexually inappropriate comments, and placed his clothed genitals against the chair of a female employee on a biweekly basis. According to the EEOC, that same manager also sexually assaulted a male employee by purposefully rubbing his clothed genitals against the employee’s buttocks.

The lawsuit also asserts the manager participated in the racially hostile work environment at Christopher’s Dodge Ram, frequently commenting on Black/African employees’ skin color and supposed physical characteristics. According to the EEOC, other Christopher’s Dodge Ram employees also made derogatory and racially offensive comments, including use of the N-word and the word “beaners,” contributing to the racially hostile work environment towards Black/African and Latinx/Hispanic employees. The EEOC alleges that Christopher’s Dodge Ram knew about the harassment but failed to act and allowed it to worsen.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial harassment in employment, as well as sexual harassment and retaliation. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (EEOC v. Chris the Crazy Trader, Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-02666) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

“The EEOC is committed to ensuring the workplace remains free of sexual harassment, racial harassment, and retaliation,” said EEOC Phoenix District Office Regional Attorney Mary Jo O’Neil. “Employees should be able to go to work without fear of being harassed and mistreated because of their sex, race, or national origin.”

Amy Burkholder, the field director of the EEOC’s Denver Field Office, said, “Federal law makes it clear: Employers must remedy and prevent racially and sexually hostile work environments.”