O’Reilly Auto Sued by EEOC Over Sexual Harassment, Retaliation Incidents

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed a lawsuit against O’Reilly Automotive Stores, Inc. (DBA O’Reilly Auto Parts), alleging the company routinely subjected female employees at a store in Orlando to sexual harassment and that it retaliated against one of the employees who spoke up, forcing her to quit.

The lawsuit alleges a supervisor and several other male employees would make sexually charged comments about female employees at the Orlando O’Reilly location. They would allegedly tell the women to bend over, ask them for oral sex, grope them, pin them to tables and purposefully brush up against them in aisles. When female employees complained about the harassment, O’Reilly managers allegedly laughed at them during the interview, and the supervisor and other employees began retaliating against them for complaining about the harassment. The abusive conduct continued until one woman was forced to quit.

The alleged conduct violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and is subject to civil punishment.

Whistleblower retaliation against the law

Retaliation of any sort against whistleblowers who speak up about these types of issues is strictly illegal and can result in substantial penalties, as well as awards for the whistleblowers who provide tips about the conduct.

Any conduct that violates a person’s civil rights cannot be tolerated in the workplace. When such violations occur, it is important for those who are aware of it to step up and provide information on that conduct to the proper authorities.

For further guidance on the steps you should take to proceed with a whistleblower claim, meet with a dedicated attorney at Kardell Law Group.