“Nobody listened,” said Luz Oviedo, 50. “[Human Resources] didn’t listen. The manager didn't listen. Nobody.”
Oviedo, who worked nearly eight years at Alsco, a linen and uniform company, alleges in the suit that her boss “demanded sexual favors in exchange for her continued employment.”
Oviedo said she was forced to engage in oral sex and intercourse with her boss at least eight times. Her complaint also alleges that “Alsco had known about the harassment… for nearly three years, as Ms. Oviedo had reported [her supervisor’s] behavior on numerous occasions.”
Another woman who worked with Oviedo and who also filed a lawsuit, Maria Collins, said she applied for a management position, but was passed over. Collins, who worked at Alsco for five years, said her compensation was less than co-workers who did the same job and that she was called the N-word.
Both Oviedo and Collins were fired. The company did fire Oviedo’s boss, but only after hearing complaints from another manager, according to the lawsuit. “The company does not comment on pending litigation,” says Mark Temple, a Houston-based attorney representing Alsco.