Catherwood LibraryILR School

After four years of pre-trial legal wrangling and refusal to negotiate a settlement, the Dial Soap Corporation started the first day of trial for a $27 million sexual harassment lawsuit yesterday by asking a US District Court judge for a postponement so it could negotiate (see WIT for April 5, 2003). Brought on behalf of ninety-one female workers at Dial's Illinois soap plant by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)---which joined Dial in asking for the trial to be delayed until tomorrow---the class-action case could expand enormously in trial. Over 25 percent of female employees at the plant since 1988 have testified that they were victims of harassment, and with Federal law allowing a maximum of $300,000 in damages per individual in EEOC sexual harassment cases Dial could face a record loss in trial.