AUSTIN, Texas — Central Austin Motorcars, LLC, Hi Tech Motorcars, LLC, and Stadium Motorcars, LLC will pay $925,000 and furnish other relief to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, five managers at South Austin Nissan, a car dealership in Austin, subjected four female sales employees to a sexually hostile work environment including frequent sexual comments, unwanted touching, and a physical assault in the workplace. The filing claimed managers also instructed female sales associates to “show more, sell more,” encouraging them to use sexuality to sell cars. One female sales associate was forced to resign her employment in February 2023 due to the harassment. The EEOC’s suit also alleged the dealerships engaged in unlawful retaliation stemming from the transfer and subsequent termination of a male sales manager upon learning he reported the sexual harassment.

“Unfortunately, sexual harassment of female workers remains a persistent problem in the American workplace,” said acting EEOC Dallas Regional Attorney Ronald L. Phillips. “While educating employers about their legal duties is an important part of the solution, meaningful deterrence requires robust enforcement of federal law.”

The type of conduct alleged in the EEOC’s complaint violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace and further prohibits retaliation against employees who report or oppose sex harassment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Central Austin Motorcars, LLC, Hi Tech Motorcars, LLC, and Stadium Motorcars, LLC, Case No. 1:23-cv-01541-RP) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Acting EEOC San Antonio Field Office Director Edith Banda said, “Title VII protects employees’ rights to work in an environment free from sexual harassment. It also protects workers who report or oppose such behavior — penalizing employees who stand up for the civil rights of their colleagues only serves to compound the toxic environment created by rampant harassment. The EEOC is committed to ensuring Texas employers operate in full compliance with all federal anti-harassment laws.”

On June 3, the federal court denied the dealerships’ motions for summary judgment challenging some of the EEOC’s claims, finding sufficient evidence supporting those claims to warrant a trial by jury. The court also granted the EEOC’s motion for partial summary judgment, finding that the dealerships, while different companies, operated as one statutory employer, or an “integrated enterprise,” for purposes of any Title VII liability in the case.

The EEOC and the dealerships subsequently agreed to settle the case before trial, which had been scheduled to commence on July 6, and on July 23, the federal court approved the three-year consent decree voluntarily resolving the litigation. In addition to paying monetary relief to the five affected workers, the decree requires the dealerships to adopt policies and procedures designed to prevent any future sexual harassment and retaliation; provide extensive training on conducting harassment, discrimination and retaliation investigations to employees who are assigned that function; provide non-discrimination training to employees; report future complaints of sex harassment, sex discrimination or retaliation to the EEOC; and be subject to other compliance-monitoring measures.

For more information on sexual harassment and retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment and https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s Dallas District Office has jurisdiction over a substantial portion of Texas and parts of southern New Mexico.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.