Norma Izaguirre asked her lawyers in Spanish if she could add comments about her time at Absolute Drywall. Minutes later, she was crying in the green room outside the press conference room at the State Capitol last Tuesday, March 4.
Through a Spanish-English translator, she shared with reporters that she believed the contractor fired her for attempting to report Juan Diego Medina Cisneros for sexual assault while she was cleaning a bathtub at the Viking Lakes apartment complex in Eagan. The company initially claimed the relationship was consensual, but Medina Cisneros has since pleaded guilty to sexual assault and will serve three years in prison.
Now, three years later, the state’s Department of Human Rights and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office have joined Izaguirre’s lawsuit, which alleges the subcontractor repeatedly ignored claims of harassment and then fired her. “I am grateful again for the state’s decision to join my case,” Izaguirre said, “and this is an acknowledgement of not only my truth, but also the unacceptable reality that women like me, Latina women, too often face sexual harassment and assault in the construction industry.”
Rebecca Lucero, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, emphasized the department’s commitment to investigating all discrimination complaints. “Under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, we investigate all complaints of discrimination, period. We do not ask or look into anyone’s immigration status.
“We are focused on discrimination itself. Discrimination should not happen in Minnesota, period,” she said.
In a related study, the National Library of Medicine surveyed 52 Hispanic women from various low-income jobs in Boston about sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace. The study found that 41 women had either experienced or witnessed sexual harassment at work.
Notably, 34% of these workers were employed at companies with fewer than 10 employees. The study also highlighted several common barriers to reporting sexual harassment and retaliation faced by workers.
“If you file a charge of discrimination with our department, this is a public setting,” said Lucero. “A vast majority of situations are not public. However, investigations are conducted in a neutral, fact-finding manner. All of the information is kept confidential, and these investigations are done thoroughly.
“Most everything is settled if we find probable cause of discrimination. Our job is to prevent discrimination from happening from the front end and to put systems in place to keep it from happening in the future.”
Barriers to reporting included fear of being fired (34%), lack of awareness of the reporting process (24%), threats from the harasser (17%), and feelings of shame or guilt (15%). Additionally, victims experienced retaliation, including reduced work hours (12%), termination (12%), resignation due to lack of support (10%), and threats related to their immigration status (10%).
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison lauded the MDHR as one of the “strongest civil rights laws in the country. “What happened to Norma was appalling,” Ellison said. “Absolute Drywall’s response to what happened was appalling as well, and by joining this lawsuit, we want to send the strongest possible message to everyone in construction and in any other sector that you must care for the rights, protection, and dignity of all of your workers.”
shows racial disparities in reporting sexual harassment with black workers making up over 7-0 percent of sexual harassment charges. Credit: EEOC
Black workers accounted for 71% of the 1,945 sexual harassment charges filed simultaneously with a race discrimination charge according to data from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) study from 2018 to 2021.
Additionally, 37% of the 797 sexual harassment charges filed with a national origin charge identified Hispanic workers, with 15% specifically designating Mexican national origin. The data also reveals a troubling trend of retaliation: 43% of the 27,291 sexual harassment charges filed were accompanied by retaliation claims, indicating that many victims face further mistreatment when they report harassment in the workplace.
Eagle Building Company is one of many contractors that work with Absolute Drywall. Nick Williams, vice president of the 6th-largest multifamily contractor in the Twin Cities, replied via email: “We want to be clear that Eagle Building Company does not support or condone any of the allegations against Absolute Drywall or its former employees. We respect the legal process and trust that the authorities will handle the matter appropriately. Once the situation is resolved, we will assess our business relationship with Absolute Drywall accordingly.”