Tapioca Express settles lawsuit involving alleged sexual harassment of Filipina employees

ASAM NEWS

Asian tea chain Tapioca Express has agreed to pay over $100,000 in a sexual harassment lawsuit after an unidentified owner involving two franchises was accused of sexual harassment towards Filipina employees between the ages of 17 and 23, according to Times of San Diego.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) did not reveal how many employees were involved in the case but said that the alleged victims were repeatedly receiving unwanted physical contact and comments of a sexual nature.

“We commend the young women for coming forward to shine a light on the harassment to which they were subjected,” said Christopher Green, director of the EEOC’s San Diego office. “Their strength may give courage to other young people or those in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community who may be suffering harassment or discrimination in the workplace to come forward as well.”

According to the National Law Review, Tapioca Express will provide training on anti-sexual harassment and revise their policies.

“Harassment remains a persistent problem in the workplace, which must be addressed top-down in any company,” said Anna Park, regional attorney for EEOC’s Los Angeles District Office. “We are encouraged by the steps Tapioca Express has taken to resolve this matter and the measures it has put in place to prevent workplace harassment and discrimination.”

____________________________________________________________________

Kevin Tsujihara's downfall continues

Former  Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara

This shouldn't come as a surprise. Deadline reports that Kevin Tsujihara, who resigned as chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. last week, is being kicked off (dramatic pause) the Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment. 

Tsujihara’s was forced to resign it was revealed he’d engaged in sexual misconduct with actress Charlotte Kirk and then attempted to help her find roles in Warner Bros. films. 

The Hollywood-based Commission was formed in late 2017 in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Its commissioners include the heads of the major studios, networks, talent agencies, record labels, trade associations and industry unions. It is chaired by Anita Hill, whose accusations against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas made sexual harassment part of America's lexicon.

The pending ouster of Tsujihara comes after actress Olivia Munn, whose mother is Chinese, lambasted the Japanese American CEO for being part of the misogynistic culture that pervades the entertainment industry.

Olivia Munn and Brett Ratner.

Munn, who has been one of the more outspoken actresses in the #MeToo movement,  accused Tsujihara of fostering a culture that did not take sexual misconduct seriously, as he had approved a deal with director/producer Brett Ratner despite him publicly lying about sleeping with her.

“Since #MeToo people often ask how the abuses were so prolific. It’s easy if the people at the top don’t care…” Munn tweeted. “In 2013, Tsujihara approved Brett Ratner’s very unorthodox $450m financing deal, just 2 yrs after he had to apologize for using homophobic slurs & lying about me.”

After Munn wrote a book about an unnamed director masturbating in front of her, which the Hollywood rumor mill speculated that it was Ratner, Ratner denied the inference and in an apparent reprisal against Munn, bragged that he allegedly had sex with Munn numerous times.

“I wrote a book where I discussed him anonymously. A year later, (Ratner) named himself and went on to lie about me. A few days after that, he was on the Howard Stern show publicly apologizing for lying, saying he was sorry. Yet, two years after that moment, he gets a $450 million licensing deal with Warner Bros,” she previously told Rogue magazine.

________________________________________________________________________