A California Assembly committee passed a bill Wednesday that would give the state the power to revoke the licenses of farm labor contractor’s if they hire supervisors who have sexually harassed workers.
Michael Marsh is an attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance. He says his office deals with complaints of sexual harassment and sexual assault on a regular basis.
Marsh: “We see between one and two women who are sexually harassed by a supervisor in the workplace each week. Each year we get between one and two women who are raped by their supervisor.”
The bill also requires that farm labor contractors, supervisors and foremen undergo sexual harassment training.
Agricultural groups had opposed the measure initially. They withdrew their opposition when the bill was changed to reduce the time required annually to deal with sexual harassment awareness.