Redmund Sum owns and operates an electronics manufacturer and distributor called Silver Center America in Fremont.

According to one of the plaintiffs, Britanni Brown, Sum routinely made inappropriate sexual comments at work to the discomfort of his two sole female employees. The misconduct escalated though, when Sum groped and fondled Brown in his office, telling her that he had “always wanted” to do that.

ERA Legal Director Jennifer Reisch and Staff Attorney Monali Sheth, who represent the two women, say that such mistreatment of female workers is altogether too common.

“Unfortunately, sexual harassment and assault of women at work has become national epidemic,” said Sheth. “This case highlights the acuity of the problem in male-dominated industries like electronics manufacturing. What our clients have experienced on the job is extremely disturbing, and ERA will continue its advocacy until the workplace is safe and free of harassment for all women.”

To read a copy of the complaint in Brown et al v. Silver Center America, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, click here.

Although fearful that she might lose her job is she complained, Maria gathered her courage and complained to ABM about the harassment and assault. Instead of dealing with her complaint in a straightforward way, the company swore her and other potential witnesses to secrecy, requiring them to sign a “Confidentiality Agreement” that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) later determined to be unlawful. Instead of protecting Maria while investigating her complaint, the company transferred her to a shorter-term position and then terminated her employment within months of her making the complaint, while the foreman was allowed to stay on the job

ERA began representing Maria shortly after ABM let her go. With help from ERA, Maria filed timely charges of discrimination and retaliation against ABM with the EEOC and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). On April 23, 2009, the EEOC issued a Determination and found that there was reasonable cause to believe that ABM discriminated against Maria because of her sex, and retaliated against her for complaining about sexual harassment by not recalling her for work.

On May 17, 2012, a San Francisco Superior Court jury ultimately agreed with the EEOC, awarding Maria $812,001 in damages in a sexual harassment and retaliation suit brought against ABM and its subsidiary ABM Janitorial Services-Northern California. ERA and the San Francisco law firm of Talamantes Villegas Carrera LLP represented Maria in the lawsuit. The case is Bojorquez v. ABM Industries Incorporated, et al., Case No. CGC-10-495994, San Francisco Superior Court. Read ERA’s press release about Maria’s victory here.

At least a half a dozen other sexual harassment lawsuits have been brought against ABM by female janitorial employees within the past several years, including two class action lawsuits brought by the EEOC. One of these class actions, U.S. E.E.O.C. v. ABM Industries Inc., et al., Case No. 1:07-cv-01428 LJO JLT, was brought in federal district court in the Eastern District of California in 2007 against the same defendants named in Maria’s case. As in the present case, the EEOC found evidence that the 21 female employees included in the class were subjected to severe, pervasive sexual harassment at worksites in the Central Valley in California, up to and including sexual assault. The case settled in 2010 for $5.8 million.

Working in a safe, secure environment free of sexual harassment and assault is critical to the survival and economic empowerment of low-wage women workers and their families Maria’s case and the cases of these other female janitors highlight how sexual harassment against immigrant women in the workplace has become a national epidemic. “Injustice on Our Plates: Immigrant Women in the U.S. Food Industry,” a report recently issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center, notes that 80% of the Mexican immigrant women surveyed said they had experienced sexual harassment while working in the fields. That compares to roughly half of all women in the U.S. workforce who say they have experienced at least one incident.

This country’s two and half million female domestic workers (many of whom are immigrant women) similarly face repeated and severe sexual harassment without recourse because they are excluded from most labor protections. Poverty, cultural constraints, language barriers, undocumented status, fear, shame, lack of information about their rights, and a dearth of resources to assist them have made it incredibly challenging for these women to come forward to speak up about the sexual harassment that they suffer on the job.

“Without NBC’s investigation into many Title IX issues and concerns how would we know about half of what’s going on in bay area schools?” Noreen Farrell, with Equal Rights Advocates told the Investigative Unit.

ERA has also filed a request for information from Evergreen, asking for proof it’s following Title IX. She is still waiting for answers.

“What I would advise a school district that has faced these horrible allegations is that they should be upfront doing everything to make sure students feel safe, parents feel confident and that members of the public feel confident,” Farrell said.

“For educators to stick their heads in the sand about sexual abuse of minors and the application of Title IX is a real problem.”