ST. CLOUD, Minn. — A federal lawsuit filed against the YMCA in St. Cloud is accusing the organization of subjecting employees to a hostile work environment, violating their civil rights.
The suit was filed Tuesday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA.
Since at least December 2021, the lawsuit alleges workers, some of whom were teens, were subjected to "offensive and inappropriate sexual comments about their bodies." One worker was also repeatedly propositioned for sex, the suit claims.
The EEOC claims managers witnessed some harassment. Additionally, when a teenager reported the harassment to her supervisor and a high-level director, "that director refused to address the harassment and instead accused the teenage Aggrieved Individual of engaging in gossip." That employee was compelled to leave her job because of "intolerable working conditions."
The EEOC requests a jury trial, and is seeking the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA to provide compensation to aggrieved individuals.
