CA fruit farm agrees to pay $100K to settle sex harassment, discrimination claims

Fruit farm Ayoquezco Farms, Inc., and its owner, Juan Rafael Cruz, agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a sex harassment and discrimination lawsuit filed by the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) and former employee Patricia Maldonado Zaragoza. In addition to paying a monetary settlement, the proposed consent decree goes a few steps further and requires the farm to develop and implement harassment, discrimination, and retaliation policies and provide sexual harassment training to employees.

Facts

On or around June 25, 2018, Zaragoza began her employment with Ayoquezco Farms as a seasonal produce harvester assigned to pick strawberries. The lawsuit claims that shortly after she was hired, Cruz began making sexual remarks about her body. She made repeated requests to leave her alone, but the conduct continued. She claims that in July 2018 he made sexually charged comments about her breasts and lips and pursued sex with her.

The lawsuit claims Cruz attempted to grab Zaragoza’s body without her consent and, throughout the 2018 and 2019 seasons, continued to make verbal statements about her body and implied he was entitled to sex with her. She also alleges he made it known he was the owner and there was no one she could complain to.

In November 2020, Zaragoza returned to work for a short period, and the direct sexual comments continued. In addition, when she went to pick up her paycheck, Cruz saw her in the parking lot, forcefully put his arms around her, and pressed himself against her. She struggled to get free and fell to the ground before she escaped.