Catherwood LibraryILR School

A class action sexual harassment case filed against the Dial Corporation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1999 is making its way through the courts, and could become the largest since the high-profile case involving hundreds of women at Mitsubishi Inc.'s Normal, Illinois factory that resulted in a $44 million settlement. Over 100 current and former female employees have given depositions, and are prepared to testify, that they were subjected to years of extreme harassment by coworkers and supervisors with the full knowledge of the highest levels of management. While Dial has attempted to downplay the seriousness of the problems in its factories and offices, a federal judge found last August that preliminary testimonies and evidence suggest that Dial permitted an intolerable work environment to exist.