Willamette Tree Wholesale, Inc.

 

 

 

Willamette Tree Wholesale, Inc. today announced a broad settlement ending all legal disputes between it, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and four former employees. Willamette Tree will pay the four former Willamette Tree employees $150,000 over the course of four years, and has agreed to step up its efforts to prevent and address discrimination and harassment in the workplace. In exchange, the EEOC and the former employees have agreed to dismiss their lawsuits against Willamette Tree, and enter into a release of all claims against the company.

 

Under the terms of the agreements entered into with the EEOC and the former employees, Willamette Tree will engage in a package of reforms to ensure that its employees work in an environment free of unlawful harassment and discrimination. The package includes providing Willamette Tree employees with regular training on harassment and discrimination and an updated policy prohibiting harassment in the workplace.

 

 

“This comprehensive approach to addressing and preventing unlawful harassment in the workplace, as outlined in the settlement agreements, is what all employers should consider implementing,” said Willamette Tree’s attorney, Tamara E. Russell of Barran Liebman LLP. “The settlement agreements reflect Willamette Tree’s longstanding approach to equal employment opportunity, and allows the company to continue to provide employment opportunities to migrant workers that might not have otherwise existed.”

 

Willamette Tree adamantly denies that any of the claims made against it by the EEOC or the four former employees have merit. Its longstanding practice has been to promote safety in the workplace so that no employee is exposed to harm. Willamette Tree has chosen to settle this case to expeditiously resolve the matter and avoid protracted litigation, but also because the procedures in the agreement reaffirm and are consistent with its commitment to equal employment opportunity.

 

During the course of the litigation, which was filed by the EEOC and the four former employees in 2008 in federal court, Willamette Tree argued to the court that one of the plaintiff’s claims was time-barred. Specifically, Willamette Tree argued that the plaintiff in question had waited too long to file her lawsuit, and could not produce a fact- driven, legitimate basis for waiting too long to file a lawsuit. Although the court did not agree with Willamette Tree’s position, Willamette Tree believes the court’s application of “equitable estoppel” to preserve the claim was in error, and had planned to appeal the issue should the matter have proceeded beyond trial.

 

The settlement agreement does not require Willamette Tree to pay attorney fees to either the EEOC or the attorneys who represented the four former employees. As part of the settlement agreements, the four former employees and the EEOC have signed a release of all claims against Willamette Tree.

 

 

Questions regarding Willamette Tree’s position regarding this settlement and requests for copies of pleadings and briefing filed by Willamette Tree during the course of the litigation should be forwarded to its attorney, Tamara E. Russell of Barran Liebman LLP (trussell@barran.com).