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Mitsubishi faces more suits
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August 29, 1997: 7:30 p.m. ET
Carmaker settles with 27 employees, but suit on behalf of 300 more looms
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Mitsubishi Motor Corp. may have settled a lawsuit with 27 women alleging sexual harassment, but the company still faces similar allegations from hundreds of other women.
The automaker announced late Thursday that it had settled a group lawsuit from female workers at its Normal, Ill., plant. Negotiations still are underway with two additional women who had separate lawyers.
Mitsubishi now turns to the massive lawsuit from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of 300 women. The two sides are in the discovery phase of the suit, Mitsubishi spokeswoman Gael O'Brien said.
The women filed the lawsuit in April 1996, contending the company condoned sexual harassment at its Normal, Ill., plant. They charged male colleagues with groping and touching them and said they had to have sexual relations to keep their jobs.
The company denied the allegations and said harassment wasn't widespread.
The terms of the Thursday agreement were withheld under court order, but a lawyer for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the company would pay the women "substantial" cash.
O'Brien confirmed that the automaker will donate $100,000 to women's causes as part of the deal.
Published reports said Mitsubishi would pay the women $9.5 million. Based on their experiences at the plant, the women will receive as much as $500,000, the reports stated.
O'Brien dismissed the figures as "pure speculation. "
The terms of the settlement, according to the judge, were confidential," she said. "I can't confirm any of that."
Officials on both sides praised Thursday's settlement.
Lynn Martin, the former U.S. Labor Secretary who Mitsubishi hired to study its workplace and make recommendations, deemed it a "fair and equitable settlement."
Mitsubishi lawyer Walter Connolly said "the terms were fair to both sides."
Patricia Benassi, attorney for 27 of the original 29 plaintiffs suing the company, said the deal is "a real credit" to Mitsubishi.
"Lots of companies out there would not try to resolve such cases, often exposing women to further harm," Benassi said. "Mitsubishi has handled this case in a way that didn't do this." 
--Will Morton
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