Balfour Beatty pays a truck driver $80,000 to settle a sexual harassment case in the US

The victim was allegedly asked to talk “dirty things” to a co-worker who also sent her explicit text messages, asked her to send him explicit pictures and sit on his lap.

According to the EEOC, the male employee's behavior escalated after the victim complained, while she was exposed to a hostile work environment.

This allegedly included several male coworkers calling her sexually derogatory names, with one of them telling her to “shut up, you stupid bitch” and “this is a man's world… if you can't handle it, go to Walmart.”

After the victim complained, she was denied the promotion she expected and transferred to an “undesirable” job.

In addition to paying compensation, Balfour Beatty was ordered to implement an anti-discrimination and harassment policy, train managers and employees to recognize sexual harassment and retaliation, and not to discriminate against employees on the basis of their gender.

The Company will submit periodic reports to the EEOC.

Melinda Dugas, EEOC regional attorney in Charlotte, North Carolina, said, “This case demonstrates that employers must respond quickly to employee complaints of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment before the behavior escalates.”