The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing South Austin Nissan in Texas and its owners, accusing them of creating a sexually hostile working environment.
The federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Western District of Texas names three former saleswomen who say they were harassed by the then-general manager, sales manager and used-vehicle sales manager at the store. The allegations include inappropriate comments, touching and propositions. The dealership’s former general sales manager also alleges that he tried to report these behaviors to the group’s human resources director and its COO. The former general sales manager was transferred, his pay cut and eventually terminated in retaliation, the complaint alleges.
The commission claims South Austin Nissan and owner NICPA Central Auto Group in Houston violated U.S. civil rights law. The lawsuit seeks that the store “eradicate the effects of its past and present unlawful employment practices” and compensate those impacted for lost income and emotional harm.
“When an employer fails to remedy sexual harassment and retaliates against workers who report, it perpetuates the harms suffered by the employees who simply seek a healthy work environment,” Shannon Black, an EEOC trial attorney, said in a statement.
South Austin Nissan and NICPA Central Auto Group, through a lawyer, declined to comment on the allegations.
It’s not clear if the three managers still work for the dealership or group. They are not listed on the South Austin Nissan website’s staff page.
The lawsuit follows one of the former female employees filing a discrimination complaint with the EEOC in July 2022.
The EEOC claims in its complaint that the unlawful practices span beyond the three named female employees. For example, the lawsuit alleges that one manager often encouraged female employees to wear revealing clothing to sell more cars.
In the complaint, one of the former saleswomen accused the then-general manager of asking her what would happen if he kissed her and another time he rubbed his “pelvis against her while staring at her breasts.” She was terminated in May 2022.
Another of the former saleswomen alleges that the sales manager watched pornography while at work and described his own sexual activity to coworkers.
A third saleswoman accused the used-vehicle sales manager of commenting on her body and clothing, as well as telling sexually explicit stories about himself.
The latter two women were “constructively discharged” as a result of the harassment, according to the complaint. All three women claim they reported the inappropriate behavior to superiors but were ignored.