Gardena printer to pay thousands in lawsuit

From wire reports
Article Launched: 03/13/2008 11:22:45 PM PDT

The company that prints the Daily Breeze and the national edition of the New York Times and other major newspapers agreed to pay $125,000 to two female employees at its Gardena plant to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit, federal officials said Thursday.

The women alleged they had to endure touching, lewd comments and propositions, and Southwest Offset Printing failed to address their complaints, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed the lawsuit.

Stephen Rogers, vice president of Southwest Offset Printing's human resources department, had no comment when reached by telephone Thursday.

"An employer's duty to keep their employees safe and free from discrimination becomes more important when an employee, like this charging party, worked in an isolated environment with the harasser," said Anna Park, the EEOC's regional attorney for its Los Angeles office, in a statement.

Southwest Offset Printing's Web site states the company is "one of California's largest privately owned printing companies."

The Web site also lists clients such as the Christian Science Monitor and the London Financial Times.