A group of more than a dozen workers has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against their employer Home Delivery America, a moving company based in New Jersey. The 14 male workers decided to file the lawsuit after a majority of them were fired or laid off. Three of the plaintiffs still work for the company. All of them are Dominican immigrants, some of them having arrived in the country more recently than others. They claim they were regularly called animals and told all Dominicans were lazy and incompetent.

The plaintiffs also say they were subjected to regular verbal abuse and physical harassment, according to their suit. They say they were groped, teased, subjected to racial discrimination and retaliated against for discussing their sub-par working conditions. All of the harassment, according to the workers, created a hostile work environment. One man is alleged to have regularly exposed himself to the plaintiffs. Any comments the workers made against individuals harassing them were ignored by their supervisors, they claim.

In 2009, the workers believe they were not given a raise that was awarded to many of the Puerto Rican employees because of their nationality. Many of their peers made comments about how they believed Dominicans to be lazy and worthless. If the lawsuit is decided in favor of the plaintiffs, they will likely be awarded a monetary value that will satisfy the amount of money they lost out on during the 2009 raise and then some.

Home Delivery America, which is based in Secaucus, New Jersey, does business with several large companies, including Sears and General Electric. A spokesperson for the company said it has not yet received the lawsuit and would not comment on it.

Source: WNCY, “Dominican Workers Sue NJ Moving Company for Harassment,” Cindy Rodriguez, Aug. 24, 2011