Case: EEOC v. CRAFTEX WHOLESALE & DISTRIBUTORS INC and ASHCROFT LEASING LLC

4:02-cv-03021 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas

Filed Date: Aug. 12, 2002

Closed Date: May 20, 2009

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Case Summary

The EEOC's Houston office filed this suit on August 12, 2002 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The EEOC claimed Craftex Wholesale and Distributors, Inc. and Ashcroft Leasing, Inc. sexually harassed multiple male employees by subjecting them to lewd acts. The EEOC alleged these acts created a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII and represented a pattern and practice of discriminatory behavior. After the defendant answered and the parties participated in a scheduling conference, the case progressed for over a year. Then, on February 23, 2004, the court ordered a conditional dismissal due to a settlement announcement. On May 20, 2004 a consent decree was submitted, approved, and entered. In the consent decree, the defendant agreed to pay $190,000. The EEOC was to determine which employees were eligible to receive payment. Further, the defendant was to set up a special account in which to hold the settlement money, with interest being dispersed to the complainants. The defendant also agreed to institute a sexual harassment policy, create a complaint procedure, provide training for employees, report to the EEOC, and submit to four inspections per year by the EEOC. 1. The terms of the agreement were to run for 5 years. The docket sheet does not show any further enforcement took place; the case was presumably closed in 2009.

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Summary Authors

Jason Chester (8/1/2007)

Clearinghouse (6/15/2017)

Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
4:02-cv-03021	Docket (PACER) EEOC v. Craftex Wholesale et al	May 20, 2004	May 20, 2004 Docket
23 4:02-cv-03021	Consent Decree EEOC v. Craftex Wholesale and Distributors et al	May 20, 2004	May 20, 2004 Settlement Agreement
4:02-cv-03021	EEOC Litigation Settlement Report (June 2004) EEOC v. Craftex Wholesale and Distributors Inc & Ashcroft Leasing LLC No Court	June 30, 2004	June 30, 2004 Press Release

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Resources

Title	Description		External URL Date / External URL
Under the Radar: Visibility and the Effects of Discrimination Lawsuits in Small and Large Firms Carly Knight, Frank Dobbin, Alexandra Kalev	Research on how discrimination lawsuits affect corporate diversity has yielded mixed results. Qualitative studies highlight the limited efficacy of lawsuits in the typical workplace, finding that lit…	March 2022	April 1, 2022 https://cris.tau.ac.il/...

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Docket

Last updated March 26, 2025, 8:39 a.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
2	Order setting Initial Pretrial and Scheduling Conference on 4:30 12/3/02 by telehone before Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt and Order to Disclose Interested Persons, filed. Parties notified. (bchurchill) (Entered: 08/12/2002)	Aug. 12, 2002	Aug. 12, 2002
	1 SUMMONS issued for Craftex Wholesale (bchurchill) (Entered: 08/12/2002)	Aug. 12, 2002	Aug. 12, 2002
3	RETURN OF SERVICE executed as to Craftex Wholesale 8/14/02 filed. Answer due on 9/3/02 for Craftex Wholesale (ljackson) (Entered: 08/20/2002)	Aug. 20, 2002	Aug. 20, 2002
4	AMENDED ORDER FOR CONFERENCE AND DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTED PARTIES: Counsel shall appear for an initial pretrial and scheduling conference on 12/2/02 at 4:30 pm before Judge Hoyt by telephone, filed. (Signed by Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt ) Ptys notified. (fmremp) Modified on 08/26/2002 (Entered: 08/26/2002)	Aug. 26, 2002	Aug. 26, 2002
	Deadline updated; set telephone conference for 4:30 12/2/02 before Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt (fmremp) (Entered: 08/26/2002)	Aug. 26, 2002	Aug. 26, 2002
5	CERTIFICATE OF INTERESTED PARTIES by Craftex Wholesale , filed. (ljackson) (Entered: 09/03/2002)	Sept. 3, 2002	Sept. 3, 2002
6	ANSWER to Complaint by Craftex Wholesale (Added attorney Josef Franz Buenker), filed. (ljackson) (Entered: 09/03/2002)	Sept. 3, 2002	Sept. 3, 2002
7	CERTIFICATE OF INTERESTED PARTIES by EEOC , filed. (sguevara) (Entered: 09/10/2002)	Sept. 9, 2002	Sept. 9, 2002
8	Joint Report of Meeting and Joint Discovery/Case Management Plan by EEOC, Craftex Wholesale , filed. (sjones) (Entered: 11/20/2002)	Nov. 20, 2002	Nov. 20, 2002
9	ORDER following telephone scheduling conference. Apprs: R Sustaita f/pltf; J Buenker f/deft. Setting Joining of parties 1/31/03 ; Pltf expert witness list and report submitted by 6/30/03 ; Deft expert witness list and report submitted by 7/30/03 ; Discovery cutoff 10/30/03 ; Deadline for filing all dispositive motions 10/30/03 ; Pretrial order to be submitted on or before 12/1/03 ; call deadline 11:30 12/1/03 ; before Kenneth M. Hoyt, entered. Initial disclosures are due on or before 12/17/02. ETT: TBA; jury trial. Parties notified. (Signed by Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt) (ljackson) Modified on 12/06/2002 (Entered: 12/03/2002)	Dec. 2, 2002	Dec. 2, 2002
	Deadline updated; notice of compliance due for 12/17/02 (ljackson) (Entered: 12/03/2002)	Dec. 3, 2002	Dec. 3, 2002
10	INITIAL DISCLOSURE by EEOC , filed. (psmith) (Entered: 12/18/2002)	Dec. 17, 2002	Dec. 17, 2002
11	INITIAL DISCLOSURE by Craftex Wholesale , filed. (hlerma) (Entered: 12/23/2002)	Dec. 20, 2002	Dec. 20, 2002
12	MOTION for leave to amend complaint by EEOC, Motion Docket Date 2/19/03 [12-1] motion , filed. (ljackson) (Entered: 01/30/2003)	Jan. 30, 2003	Jan. 30, 2003
13	FIRST AMENDED INITIAL DISCLOSURE by EEOC , filed. (hlerma) (Entered: 02/19/2003)	Feb. 19, 2003	Feb. 19, 2003
15	SUPPLEMENT to [12-1] motion for leave to amend complaint, by EEOC , filed. (psmith) (Entered: 02/27/2003)	Feb. 25, 2003	Feb. 25, 2003
16	NOTICE of change of facisimile number by Josef Buenker atty for Craftex Wholesale , filed (ljackson) (Entered: 02/28/2003)	Feb. 28, 2003	Feb. 28, 2003
17	ORDER granting [12-1] motion for leave to amend complaint , entered; Parties notified. (signed by Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt) (ljackson) (Entered: 03/13/2003)	March 13, 2003	March 13, 2003
18	FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT by EEOC amending [1-1] complaint and adding Ashcroft Leasing LLC, filed. (psmith) (Entered: 03/26/2003)	March 25, 2003	March 25, 2003
19	JOINT MOTION to amend scheduling order by EEOC, Craftex Wholesale, Ashcroft Leasing LLC , filed. (tward) (Entered: 09/08/2003)	Sept. 4, 2003	Sept. 4, 2003
20	ORDER granting [19-1] joint motion to amend scheduling order. AMENDED SCHEDULING ORDER: discovery due for 1/31/04 , dispositive motion filing deadline for 1/15/04 , pretrial order due for 3/1/04 , docket call for 11:30 3/1/04 , entered; Parties notified. ( signed by Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt ) (psmith) (Entered: 09/09/2003)	Sept. 8, 2003	Sept. 8, 2003
21	Notice of change of address of counsel for Craftex Wholesale , filed. (dhansen) (Entered: 01/15/2004)	Jan. 12, 2004	Jan. 12, 2004
22	ORDER OF DISMISSAL without prejudice on settlement announcement, entered; Parties notified. ( signed by Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt ) (sguevara) (Entered: 02/23/2004)	Feb. 23, 2004	Feb. 23, 2004
	Case closed (sguevara) (Entered: 02/23/2004)	Feb. 23, 2004	Feb. 23, 2004
23	CONSENT DECREE, entered; Parties notified. ( signed by Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt ) (sjones) (Entered: 05/21/2004)	May 20, 2004	May 20, 2004
24	JOINT MOTION to approve , and to enter a consent decree in resolution of suit , by EEOC, Craftex Wholesale, Ashcroft Leasing LLC , filed (psmith) (Entered: 05/24/2004)	May 20, 2004	May 20, 2004

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Case Details

State / Territory:

Texas

Case Type(s):

Equal Employment

Special Collection(s):

EEOC Study — in sample

Key Dates

Filing Date: Aug. 12, 2002

Closing Date: May 20, 2009

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on behalf of one or more workers.

Plaintiff Type(s):

EEOC Plaintiff

Attorney Organizations:

EEOC

Public Interest Lawyer: Yes

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: No

Class Action Outcome: Not sought

Defendants

Private Entity/Person

Ashcroft Leasing LLC

Craftex Wholesale and Distributors, Inc.

Case Details

Causes of Action:

Title VII (including PDA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e

Other Dockets:

Southern District of Texas 4:02-cv-03021

Available Documents:

Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief

Monetary Relief

Trial Court Docket

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed

Relief Granted:

Damages

Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement

Source of Relief:

Settlement

Form of Settlement:

Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree

Content of Injunction:

Develop anti-discrimination policy

Discrimination Prohibition

Expungement of Employment Record

Implement complaint/dispute resolution process

Monitoring

Post/Distribute Notice of Rights / EE Law

Provide antidiscrimination training

Recordkeeping

Reporting

Retaliation Prohibition

Amount Defendant Pays: 190000

Order Duration: 2004 - 2009

Issues

General/Misc.:

Pattern or Practice

Discrimination Area:

Disparate Treatment

Harassment / Hostile Work Environment

Discrimination Basis:

Sex discrimination

Affected Sex/Gender(s):

Male

EEOC-centric:

Direct Suit on Merits

Recommended Citation

Case Summary of EEOC v. CRAFTEX WHOLESALE & DISTRIBUTORS INC and ASHCROFT LEASING LLC, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/9091/ (last updated 6/15/2017).