SACRAMENTO, CA – Fresno County Laguna Irrigation District was fined $160,000 this month by the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) over claims “supervisors at the district created a hostile work environment and retaliated against employees who reported alleged misconduct.”
According to CRD, the irrigation district now must pay $160,000 and reform the workplace’s process for complaints.
“There is no place for bullying or harassment by your supervisors. This settlement will bring change workers at the Laguna Irrigation deserve,” said Director Kevin Kish of the Civil Rights Department.
According to the CRD, the agency began to investigate the irrigation district in 2022 after a complaint submitted by a former employee.
The complaint, said CRD, claimed “the worker and his colleagues regularly experienced verbal and physical harassment multiple times per week, including the use of derogatory terms by supervisors attacking people of Mexican descent and unwanted touching.”
It was alleged that the supervisors ultimately fired the one who complained, according to the CRD.
“After determining that the individual complainant’s claims potentially affected other employees, CRD converted the matter into a group or class investigation as part of an effort to fully address the alleged misconduct,” according to CRD’s statement.
CRD said the corrective actions per the settlement include a revision to the employee complaint process “to ensure robust investigation of workplace discrimination and harassment,” and the hiring of a third-party investigator for situations where a supervisor is reported, “or where otherwise necessary to ensure timely resolution.”
The district must also guarantee the annual training of supervisors and human resources “on their responsibilities under California’s civil rights laws, with an emphasis on complaint procedures.”
The settlement, said CRD, also includes the creation of an employee assistance program to help with both workplace conflict and short-term counseling, posting of information on rights against discrimination and harassment in the workplace and payment of “$160,000 to be address the alleged harms to the complainant and other impacted employees.”
