MLWAUKEE, WI -- Woodworking company Richardson Industries, located in Sheboygan Falls, WI, was charged with a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for allegedly firing a female employee after receiving a report that one of its supervisors had sexually harassed her.

The EEOC claims that a division of the company, Richco Structures, violated the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it terminated Morgan Rae Brocker after it was reported that a Richco supervisor had sexually harassed Brocker at a company Christmas party in December 2005.

The EEOC decided to pursue litigation against Richardson Industries after failing to reach an out-of-court settlement. The furniture, lumber and wood components company is privately held with approximately 400 workers across several divisions: Richardson Retail Furniture, Richardson Yacht Interiors and Richardson Building Products, which includes Richco Structures.

Company officials could not be reached at the time of this report, but CEO Joe Richardson III told the Chicago Tribune that “the underlying harassment complaints have been dismissed and he expects the retaliation complaint will be also quickly dismissed.”