In the wake of a February guilty plea by a worker who raped a co-worker on a Minnesota jobsite, the state Dept. of Human Rights has joined a lawsuit against a drywall company for violating the state's Human Rights Act. Filed last December by the victim in state court, it claims Absolute Drywall enabled the acts of sexual harassment and rape against the employee and fired her for reporting the crime. 

State Attorney General Keith Ellison is seeking to ensure that the Lakeville, Minn.-based firm ceases discriminatory practices affecting employees, follows the state human rights act and pays damages to Norma Izaguirre, who filed the complaint against the company

Her co-worker Juan Diego Medina Cisneros pleaded guilty to felony criminal sexual conduct in state court in Dakota County, with sentencing set for July. 

According to the lawsuit, Izaguirre began working for Absolute Drywall in January 2021, after which Cisneros immediately and consistently began sexually harassing her, making unwanted sexual advances and assaulting her. The rape occurred in May while she was cleaning at the Eagan, Minn., project site. 

Even after Izaguirre reported the harassment and rape to the company five times, Absolute Drywall did not take any meaningful action, according to the state. Instead, it began reducing Izaguirre’s work hours and then stopped giving her work. She was let go at the beginning of September 2021. 

An investigation by the state found that “Absolute Drywall fostered a workplace culture that allowed sexual harassment and rape." The company did not have any policies prohibiting sexual harassment or clear ways for employees to file sexual harassment complaints, it found.

Absolute Drywall noted in Izaquirre’s personnel file that she was dismissed because her work could be “taken care of" by other workers. But it later hired two replacements.  

Absolute Drywall did not respond to a request for comment.

The state seeks an order requiring the company to retain an ombudsperson responsible for soliciting, investigating, monitoring and resolving employee complaints related to working conditions—including sexual harassment, retaliation and other discrimination. 

It also wants Absolute Drywall to submit reports to the Commissioner of Human Rights detailing compliance with the state court order, and to compensate Izaguirre at least $50,000 or an amount up to three times the actual damages sustained, as well as punitive damages and damages for mental anguish and suffering. 

Absolute Drywall would also have to pay a civil penalty to the state, reimburse the human rights department and state attorney general for all litigation and court costs and award other relief as the court might require.

"What happened to Norma was appalling and Absolute Drywall's response to what happened was appalling as well," AG Ellison said at a March 4 press conference. 

The state decision "to join my case against Absolute Drywall is an acknowledgment of not only my truth, but also the unacceptable reality that women like me, Latina women, too often face sexual harassment and assault in the construction industry,” Izaguirre said at the press conference. 

According to the National Association of Women in Construction, the case shows that sexual harassment continues to be a problem in the industry with nearly one-quarter of women reporting harassment on a regular basis. 

According to the Minnesota Dept. of Labor website, Absolute Drywall was founded in 2008. Its CEO is listed as Luis Ortega. 

According to MPR News, the firm is also under investigation for employee wage theft. About 40 workers who worked for company subcontractors on the 200-acre Viking Lakes residential development in Eagan, Minn., claimed in 2022 that they were not paid at rates that the subs said they would pay or were not paid for all hours they had worked. The wage theft was estimated at more than $100,000.

"There was action taken by the Minnesota Dept. of Labor and Industry related to Absolute Drywall and wage theft," said Irina Vaynerman, deputy commission of the state human rights department, during the press conference.