Carle Place, N.Y. (Dec. 16, 2009) -- A group of six Hispanic women who worked for a major government contractor on Long Island claim that supervisors at the company?s plant in Edgewood, N.Y., sexually harassed them and then fired the women for rejecting their sexual advances.

The women, all from El Salvador and now residents of Long Island, described their experiences working at the plant owned by Texas-based Alan Ritchey Inc. at a Nov. 16 press conference in the Carle Place office of their lawyer, Jeffrey Brown, senior partner of Leeds Morelli & Brown PC. The women had been inspectors for 8 to 10 years at a sprawling mail-equipment repair facility in Edgewood, N.Y., operated by Ritchey for the U.S. Postal Service.

The women filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April 2009. The complaints were cross-filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights. The EEOC is investigating the cases, but the agency?s 180-day review period has ended, allowing the women to file a federal lawsuit if the choose to, Brown said.

Brown said he would seek to meet with EEOC investigators and ask the agency for the right to sue the company. ?We will see this through a jury trial to the end,? he said.

The six women, fired in June 2008, also named the Ronkonkoma-based Local 1222 of the United Public Service Employee Union in their complaints, stating that the union failed to advocate for them. About half of the plant?s 100 workers are female, the women said,

The women stated in their complaints that they were told they had been terminated because there was no more work for them. Brown said the women had not been fired for economic reasons and that newly hired workers replaced them,

In their complaints, the women said they told their union that they were denied advancement opportunities and additional work because their supervisor did not like their physical appearances.

The women, who have not found new employment, are: Rosa Reyes, of Baldwin; Maris Campos, of Brentwood; Rosa Rivas, of Brentwood; Samantha Reyes of Bellmore; Iris Campos Chavez, of Huntington Station; and Lillian Cavez Campos, of Brentwood,

One of the women, Samantha Reyes, told reporters that once she was dragged into an empty truck and propositioned. She said she escaped without harm. Another time, she said, a manager told her to leave work early and join him at a motel for sex. She said the said the alleged sexual harassment began in 2003 and was a daily occurrence, but that she and her co-worked feared losing their livelihoods if they complained. ?I was scared and I felt abused,? she said. Two others alleged that a male supervisor exposed himself to them.

?This one of the most shocking cases our firm has ever had,? Brown said. ?No one should endure a workplace such as this. This was a disgusting and lascivious environment?

Ritchey previously disclosed to the New York State Department of Labor that beginning today it is closing the plant at 91 Heartland Blvd. in Edgewood. Ritchie, based in Valley View, Texas, has operated the plant -- the size of three football fields -- for 10 years,

Alan Ritchey is a diversified, privately held company with interests in transportation, agriculture, and construction materials. The company's truckload transportation unit mainly moves mail for the United States Postal Service. Alan Ritchey also operates mail transport equipment service centers, such as the one in Edgewood for the Postal Service.

The case was originally taken on by the Workplace Project (Centro de Derechos Laborales), an advocacy group for Latino immigrant workers based in Hempstead.

?This is one of the most serious cases we have seen,? Nadia Marin-Molina, executive director of the Workplace Project said. ?No human being should be subjected to the kind of treatment that these women faced on the job. We hope that the example given by this group will inspire other workers to stand up and join the fight against sexual harassment.?

The complaints filed with the EEOC are as follows:

? Rosa Reyes v. Alan Ritchey, Inc. 520-2009-02887
? Rosa Rivas v. Alan Ritchey, Inc.: 520-2009-02889
? Samantha Reyes v. Alan Ritchey, Inc.: 520-2009-02693
? Lillian Chavez Campos v. Alan Ritchey, Inc.: 520-2009-02885
? Iris Campos Chavez v. Alan Ritchey, Inc.: 520-2009-02893
? Maris Campos v. Alan Ritchey, Inc.: 520-2009-02891

Based in Hempstead, N.Y., The Workplace Project (Centro de Derechos Laborales), founded in 1992, is a membership-based organization that unites immigrant workers and their families for better working and living conditions. For more information visit workplaceprojectny.org

Based in Carle Place, N.Y., Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a New York City area law firm dedicated to providing the highest quality guidance and representation to clients with concerns involving a broad range of legal practice areas. Over the last two decades, the firm?s attorneys have become widely known and respected -- in New York and across the U.S. -- for their ability to litigate complex legal issues effectively, and for the outstanding results our firm has achieved, particularly in the areas of employment law, civil rights, discrimination and sexual harassment. For more information call 1-888-5-JOBLAW or visit www.lmblaw.com.

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