Mitsubishi Seeks Sanction Against EEOC

Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America Inc. asked a federal court to sanction the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, claiming the agency improperly contacted plaintiffs in a sex-harassment case without telling defense attorneys. The EEOC sued Mitsubishi in April 1996, alleging that women at its Normal, Ill., plant were subjected to sexual harassment. The agency has since alleged that as many as 289 women were harassed. The auto maker is seeking the sanctions from the U.S. Court for the Central District of Illinois in Peoria. It says the EEOC has presented a distorted picture of the situation. The EEOC, saying it had not yet seen the brief, did not comment immediately. Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing is a unit of Japan-based Mitsubishi Corp.