Sunshine Raisin Corporation has agreed to a $2 million settlement in the wake of sexual assault allegations.
Sunshine Raisin Corporation has agreed to a $2 million settlement in the wake of sexual assault allegations. The California based company operating as National Raisin ignored harassment of its female farm workers, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The settlement requires the raisin company to dismantle its existing anti-harassment policies in favor of more comprehensive guidelines. Additionally, they must restructure the employee misconduct report protocol in order to make the process more accessible.
Sunshine has agreed to “review and revise its policies related to preventing harassment and retaliation” and conduct training sessions “encouraging workers to report harassment and other misconduct.” They promise to maintain more cohesive records of both formal and informal complaints, as well as share them with an independent monitor.
In a 2021 lawsuit, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sought justice for multiple female employees working under the corporation. Women packing and sorting dried fruit at the Sunshine’s Fowler, California facility experienced groping and requests for various sexual acts.
Beginning in 2006, one of the facility’s supervisors “routinely groped and rubbed against female employees, leered at them while touching his genitals, and threatened to fire them if they complained.”
According to the lawsuit, Sunshine displayed extreme negligence through punishment in the face of reported harassment. Many of these employees only spoke Spanish, and EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows recognizes that “farmworker women, especially those with limited English proficiency, fall squarely within the category of vulnerable workers." The influential company failed to provide basicsupport to its hardest workers.
While Sunshine and its representatives have not responded to requests for comment, Burrows stated that “protecting vulnerable workers is a key enforcement priority for the commission.”
Authors: Andy Goldwasser and Alexis Kabat
