A former employee at the Denver Federal Center says her boss raped her twice and threatened her if she reported the assaults in what a government investigator called an “egregious” sexual-harassment case.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Acepex Management Corp., a government contractor, saying the company knew about its manager’s activities and failed to stop them.
A call seeking comment from the Chico, Calif.-based company was not returned Thursday.
“This is the most egregious form of sexual harassment and an example of how sexual harassment is often a demonstration of the supervisor’s power and control over subordinate employees,” Joseph Mitchell, the EEOC’s regional attorney in Denver, said in a written statement.
According to the lawsuit, the woman was hired by Acepex as a janitorial supervisor in May 2003. Soon after that, a male supervisor began sexually harassing her, the lawsuit said. He inappropriately touched her and used offensive and explicit language in front of her, according to the suit.
Efforts to locate the supervisor for comment Thursday evening were unsuccessful.
On one occasion, in front of another supervisor, he is accused of grabbing the woman by the hair, forcing her face to the floor, and telling her she was stupid and was there only because he gave her the job, according to the lawsuit. In May and June of 2003, he raped her, the lawsuit said. The suit did not provide any other details about the alleged rapes.
The following month, the General Services Administration, the government agency that manages the Federal Center in Lakewood, told Acepex officials of the woman’s allegations against her boss, the lawsuit said.
The GSA banned the man from the Federal Center until the accusations could be investigated. The company put him on paid administrative leave but took no disciplinary action against him, the lawsuit said.
The day after the government’s investigation concluded, Acepex forced the woman, a single mother, to change shifts, making it impossible for her to drive her son to school and report to work on time. She was disciplined and ultimately fired for tardiness.
The EEOC is seeking back pay and other damages on the woman’s behalf.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
