Four men who worked through a temporary staffing agency at Fender Musical Instruments Corp. in Corona have reached settlements in a lawsuit they filed against both companies in which they alleged they were sexually harassed by a female co-worker.
Attorneys in the case informed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jill Feeney on Thursday that the accord was reached Oct. 13 in mediation. No terms were divulged.
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The plaintiffs are Daniel Gutierrez, Hector Geronimo De Rosas, John Taliaferro V and Jorge Mercado. Their suit filed April 28 against Fender and alleged sexual harassment and retaliation for reporting sexual harassment. The quartet also named Cornerstone Staffing Solutions Inc. as a defendant, maintaining that Cornerstone also knew or should have known of the alleged sexual harassment by virtue of the joint employment relationship and the contract and business relationship with Fender.
The plaintiffs sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for their alleged emotional distress. In their court papers, attorneys for Fender and Cornerstone denied liability on the part of the companies and maintained the plaintiffs' claims were barred by the statute of limitations.
Fender was founded in Fullerton by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946. According to the suit, through Cornerstone's staffing, Gutierrez has worked at Fender's Corona warehouse as a sander since March 2022; De Rosas was employed there as a sander and material handler from April through June 2022; Taliaferro has worked as a washer at the location since September 2021; and Mercado had a sander job there from February through June 2022.
Also assigned to Fender through another staffing agency was a female guitar inspector. In March 2022, the woman started making inappropriate sexual comments at work to Gutierrez and some of his other male co-workers, several of whom were teens, the suit stated.
The woman also allegedly frequently touched Gutierrez and his male co- workers in a sexually inappropriate manner multiple times per week, not stopping even after getting disapproving looks from Gutierrez, the suit filed April 28 alleged.
"Mr. Gutierrez was offended by the inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances, comments, and/or remarks," according to the suit. He also objected to the alleged failure of Fender and Cornerstone to take swift measures despite numerous complaints to management and human resources from Gutierrez's co- workers, the suits stated.
De Rosas alleges that the woman on "virtually a daily basis" asked him personal questions about his body and his regularity of intimacy.
"Each time, plaintiff De Rosas looked at her strangely because her sexual behavior made him very uncomfortable, but he was scared to say anything because he just started his employment at Fender and did not want to get into any trouble," according to the suit.
One month after Taliaferro began working at the Fender warehouse, the female colleague began making inappropriate remarks to him, the suit states. She also "ran her fingers down" Taliaferro's spine in a sexually provocative manner and grabbed him from behind, the suit alleges.
The female co-worker's alleged sexual harassment continued despite two complaints by Taliaferro, who then was singled out for retaliation by the woman and a supervisor, including for using his phone during work even though other workers did the same thing without a reprimand, the suit stated
The woman showed pornographic videos on her phone to another male colleague and one male worker quit because of her alleged sexual harassment, according to the complaint.
Like Taliaferro, Mercado also alleges the female guitar inspector ran his fingers down his back and says she ignored his pleas to be professional.
"Instead, she began showing more attitude to Mercado by making his work harder and by being stricter on her inspections of his work on the guitars and complained that he had a poor attitude," the suit states.
Last June, Taliaferro and Mercado were asked by human resources to make a written statement about their complaints and more than a week later, the female co-worker was removed from Taliaferro's work area so her staffing agency could investigate her, according to the suit.
"In sum, plaintiffs were all subjected to a pattern and practice of third-party sexual harassment," according to the suit, which further alleged that Fender and Cornerstone management were aware or should have been aware about her behavior.
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