On May 12, 2026, the EEOC recently filed a lawsuit against an Oregon company, Advanced Technology Group, Inc., a project-based construction services company with jobsites nationwide. The lawsuit was filed in New Mexico federal court claiming that the company violated federal law by allowing harassment of American workers at its Rio Rancho, New Mexico location and firing one employee because he complained about the harassment.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, around June 2023, two employees were subjected to anti-American slurs by their Mexican coworkers. They also took one of the American employee’s tools without his permission, thereby impeding his ability to work, and ignored his directives and derided him because he could not speak Spanish fluently.
The employee complained about the harassment to his direct supervisor, who did nothing to address the harassment, allegedly leading to more harassment and more complaints. After his direct supervisor continued to do nothing about the harassment, he complained to a different supervisor on July 17, 2023. The next day, his direct supervisor fired him in retaliation for complaining “above [the direct supervisor’s] head,” the EEOC said.
In a social media post, the EEOC stated that it “will not stand by and allow anti-American bias to infect this nation’s workplace.”
Whether the EEOC ultimately prevails on its claim for unlawful “anti-American” harassment remains to be seen. This case is further evidence of the EEOC’s change in focus under the Trump administration. Having said that, it is never a good idea to terminate an employee for “going over their supervisor’s head” when complaining about harassment. Unlawful harassment policies should always have multiple reporting channels for employees to use.
