$1.5-Million Settlement in Sexual Abuse Case

Eleven female workers who claimed they were raped or sexually harassed by their supervisors at DeCoster Farms will share in a $1.5-million settlement.

The deal announced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settles a discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of the Mexican women in August 2001.

Iowa Ag-Construction Co., which recruits workers for several egg farms in northern Iowa, also was named in the suit and agreed to the deal. Neither company admitted liability.

The suit claimed that five of the women, who worked as egg packers at four DeCoster Farms plants in Wright County, were raped or abused by supervisors, who threatened to have them fired or killed if they did not submit. Identities of the women were not made public.

Part of the settlement money will go to the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and $125,000 will be held for victims who may come forward later, the federal commission said.