Huffington Post broke the news that five women have come forward to sue Monster Energy for the company’s discriminatory and abusive culture. The women have gained the strength to have their voices heard after being assaulted, harassed and bullied by men that are still in their positions within the company.
Many of these claims are recent, with statute of limitations possibly expiring, depending on the state the victim lives in.
“Discrimination can occur at any point of the employment relationship, from recruiting and hiring to promotion or layoff,” states Schaefer Halleen.
Three women accused the company’s vice president of retaliation, bullying and harassment. The women claim he is the reason that the women were pushed out of the company.
One text message, reported by Huffington Post, included John Kenneally, VP, texting one employee and calling her a “wh***.”
The company still stands behind the Vice President and the head of the music marketing department, Brent Hamilton, who is accused of strangling his girlfriend.
Female employees involved in the incident have all been fired, while the executives were allowed to maintain their positions in the company.
Kenneally has resigned, according to recent reports. The company has been hit with four lawsuits that claim women are punished when they speak out against harassment. Three women claim that Kenneally was responsible for ruining their reputation and engaged in bullying, retaliation and harassment.
Text messages show that Kenneally called one of the women a “bit**” while another was given a racially-charged comment. He was put on paid leave by Monster last week, which claims that the leave had nothing to do with the recent incidents.
Another executive at the company, a manager named Phillip Deitrich, is being sued as well. The woman suing the manager claims that she left the company after Phillip worked to undermine her and even went as far as sabotaging the woman’s work.
Women involved in the lawsuits claim that there was a sort of “boy scout” level of pride within the company. The women, none of them in which have any connections to one another, have all vowed to band together to raise awareness of the abuse of Monster in the media.
Stakeholder Coca-Cola claims that they’re unaware of the cases pending against Monster.
Monster claims that they believe the allegations against the company’s executives are without merit. The company claims that all of the women are disgruntled employees. Monster asserts that they have a zero-tolerance culture and that an internal investigation into the matter is underway.
People across social media are calling for a boycott of Monster. The company is known for hiring women to dress in skimpy clothes for promotional purposes. The norm in the company’s marketing has led to many women believing that the allegations against Monster are true.
A former manager at the company also confirmed the male dominance within the company, claiming it’s a “guys club.” HuffPost reports that even the human resources department was involved in the harassment and misconduct.
Further reports pertaining to the lawsuit have not been released at this time.
