Illinois Attorney General, Bolingbrook warehouse enter consent degree over discrimination

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office entered into a consent decree with a reusable packaging solutions company operating a warehouse in Bolingbrook where workers complained of gender discrimination.

In 2016, several women who worked at the warehouse complained to then-Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office about “rampant gender discrimination in the warehouse,” according to a news release from the Warehouse Workers for Justice. The warehouse was IFCO’s, a multinational corporation that washes produce pallets for grocery stores. MTIL, a third party logistics company ran the warehouse.

As part of the investigation by the attorney general, the female workers provided documentation detailing sexual harassment in the workplace and showing the company made work assignments based on gender that steered women workers into lower paying and less desireable positions.

“While I worked at the company as a temp, I experienced unwelcome sexual advances from coworkers, which I shared with the attorney general,” Erica Rand, a former worker at MTIL, said in the release. “I am glad action was taken and that there are resources being provided to make sure women feel comfortable in the workplace.”

As a result of the investigation, MTIL agreed to pay a $75,000 fine. In addition, MTL agreed to three years of monitoring by the attorney general’s office, to post a complaint hotline in the facility, conduct specialized staff training in harassment and discrimination, post job positions for forklift drivers online, and show a daily video in the facility’s lunchroom about harassment and discrimination.

“We commend the women who bravely stood up to gender discrimination at the MTIL warehouse,” WWJ Women’s Committee organizer Alicia De Anda-Feliciano said in the release. “We hope the actions of the Attorney General sends a message to warehouses and staffing agencies that gender discrimination will not be tolerated in the workplace.”

Attempts to contact IFCO for comment were unsuccessful.