According to the EEOC, the manager of a California teen farm worker repeatedly made explicit his desire to have sex with the girl, then had her fired when she reported him. He went on to threaten other workers, telling them that any who were her friends were going to pay for her sexual harassment complaint.

The EEOC announced yesterday that Adam Brothers Farming, Inc., of Santa Maria, California, has settled the sexual harassment and retaliation complaint brought on behalf of the teenage girl for $27,500 and injunctive relief.

The teen girl was a vegetable packer for Adam Brothers in 2004 and 2005. When she returned to work for the harvest of 2006, however, a male supervisor immediately began making unwanted sexual advances, the EEOC says. He brushed his body against her backside and made lewd gestures with his tongue. He asked to perform oral sex on the teen and ultimately grabbed her private parts.

The girl reported the hostile work environment to a foreman, but within two weeks of making her complaint, she was transferred, disciplined and fired. After her wrongful termination, the supervisor threatened third-party reprisals against her friends in order to intimidate them, according to the federal agency.

"Our nation's youngest workers can be particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment, particularly in the agricultural industry," said EEOC Los Angeles-area regional attorney Anna.

"Employers must be extra-vigilant and ensure a safe environment for our younger workers, especially in industries that continue to have persistent problems of harassment in the workplace."

As part of the settlement, Adam Brothers has entered into a three-year consent decree with the EEOC. It will pay $20,000 to the teen as compensation for the sexual harassment and retaliation. It will also pay $7,500 to Proteus, Inc., a nonprofit that helps teens in California's Central Valley find and train for farm work.

Adam Brothers has also agreed to revise its sexual harassment policies and complaint procedures, train all staff on those procedures in both English and Spanish, and establish a system to track any further sexual harassment complaints. The EEOC will also monitor the organization's compliance.

"Federal law expressly forbids employers from taking action against workers for reporting harassment or other types of discrimination," the EEOC's Los Angeles district director.

"The EEOC is committed to tackling matters of retaliation head-on, since retaliatory acts of this nature can discourage other employees from reporting misconduct to either the employer or our agency."

Source: EEOC press release, "Adam Brothers Farming Settles EEOC Sexual Harassment And Retaliation Suit," April 7, 2011