Sex Harassment Case Settled for $1 Million

Twenty-two women who said they were routinely groped and punished by their bosses for refusing requests for sex settled a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company’s owners for $1 million, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced. The women worked at a food processing plant in Laurel, Md. The plant was owned by Grace Culinary Systems Inc., a subsidiary of W.R. Grace & Co., until 1996, when it was sold to Townsend Culinary Inc. Under the settlement, Grace Culinary will pay $850,000 to the women, and Townsend, which closed the plant in April, will pay $150,000.