Ex-Grocery Workers: Customer Let Too Much Hang Out

March 19, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Eight former employers of Whole Foods Market may love to see customers at the store - but not quite that much of one particular shopper.

In fact, having to witness a middle-aged man going through a Sante Fe Whole Foods store wearing white, see-through body-hugging bikini shorts with no underwear was a bit over the top for one group of former employees who are now suing the Austin, Texas-based food company for not stopping the display. Closing arguments in the case were held Thursday in a Santa Fe courtroom, Reuters reported.

Maria Bautista and seven other plaintiffs are suing under New Mexico’s Human Rights Act, charging that the store fostered an environment of discrimination and sexual harassment that caused them emotional distress.

They also claim the store ignored their complaints about the man during the 2000 incident and fired one of them in retaliation for her complaint. They claim the man was not escorted out of the store even though the employees asked managers to act.

Lawyers for the supermarket firm said one of the plaintiffs was fired for insubordination while the others left for a variety of reasons.

«