Several former employees of Forest River have filed lawsuits in recent months, for claims including sexual harassment and racial discrimination.
This story by Jordan Fouts originally appeared in the Elkhart Truth.
In September, a female production worker, Marla Miller, filed a lawsuit claiming that she was sexually harassed by male co-workers starting in July 2018. She said the harassment involved inappropriate touching, including slaps on the rear, and sexually charged comments.
The behavior continued, despite complaints to her supervisor, the suit said. She was allegedly told by a plant manager that “at the end of the day, it is a trailer factory – so deal with it,” and that her harassers would stay in place.
Miller said the plant manager informed her in January 2019 that they were experiencing a slowdown and were letting her go. She says that happened despite seven to 10 new people being hired into her work area around that time.
She believes that her firing may have been in retaliation for her reports of sexual harassment, according to her lawsuit. She claims her firing was “for opposing sexual harassment at the workplace, where there is an accepted culture of sexual harassment and intimidation, that is supported by upper management.”
Her lawsuit was filed in Elkhart County Superior Court 3 and later transferred to Circuit Court.
In an answer filed with the court in November, attorneys for Forest River deny that Miller was sexually harassed by co-workers or that a plant manager dismissed her concerns. They also deny her allegations that she was fired in retaliation for her reports.
They also said Miller doesn’t have a valid claim for punitive damages “because of Forest River’s good-faith efforts to comply with anti-discrimination laws. Forest River uniformly implemented and enforced policies and procedures designed to prevent unlawful discrimination, including on the basis of sex.”
The case is awaiting a March 20 hearing under the new judge.
