A Lakeville drywall company violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act by allowing an employee to sexually harass and rape a co-worker and then fire her after she reported the harassment, a lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit was filed less than two weeks after Norma Izaguirre’s former co-worker admitted in court to raping her in a bathroom on May 20, 2021, while the two were working for Absolute Drywall at an apartment complex at the Viking Lakes development in Eagan.

On Tuesday, the state Department of Human Rights announced it had filed a motion to join the lawsuit, which Izaguirre’s attorneys filed last week in Dakota County District Court against Absolute Drywall. Attorney General Keith Ellison said a state investigation found the company violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

“The State’s decision to join my case against Absolute Drywall is an acknowledgment of not only my truth, but also the unacceptable reality that women like me, Latina women, too often face sexual harassment and assault in the construction industry,” Izaguirre said in a statement issued by the Department of Human Rights.

The four-count lawsuit, filed on Feb. 26, alleges sex discrimination, reprisal, negligent retention and negligent supervision. A judge will decide whether the state can join the lawsuit.

Dakota County prosecutors charged Izaguirre’s attacker, Juan Diego Medina Cisneros, a 32-year-old Mexican national, in July 2022 by warrant with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct. Izaguirre told Eagan police she believed he fled for Mexico after she reported the assault, the criminal complaint says.

In June, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested Cisneros at Gateway International Bridge, between the cities of Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas. He appeared in Dakota County District Court on Feb. 13 and pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct after reaching a plea deal that calls for a three-year prison term, a downward departure from state sentencing guidelines.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 8.

Harassment reports

The lawsuit says Izaguirre immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1997, and moved to Minnesota around 2001. While she was working at Los Grandes Mexican Restaurant in Burnsville in January 2021, Cisneros approached her and struck up a conversation about their employment.

Cisneros told Izaguirre that his employer, Absolute Drywall, was looking to hire women, and that she should apply to work with the company, the lawsuit says. She did, and started work as a drywall laborer on Jan. 16, 2021. Cisneros was a crew leader.

According to the lawsuit, around early March 2021, Cisneros began making sexually harassing comments to Izaguirre. When they were alone, he would try to touch, hug or grope Izaguirre, who at all times rejected his advances and told him to stop.

The lawsuit alleges that when Izaguirre threatened to report Cisneros, he threatened her and said no one would believe her. At least one co-worker witnessed Cisneros groping Izaguirre on multiple occasions.

Izaguirre reported Cisneros’ sexual harassment and inappropriate touching and aggression to her supervisor, who told her that he would address the issue, the lawsuit says.

Absolute Drywall did not investigate Izaguirre’s report, the lawsuit alleges, and “made no effort to address Izaguirre’s concerns. Unfortunately, because nothing was done, (Cisneros) continued to escalate his aggressive pursuit of Izaguirre.”

Izaguirre reported the sexual assault to St. Paul police in January 2022, according to the criminal complaint. The investigation was referred to the Eagan police in March 2022, and Izaguirre provided a statement to investigators on May 22, 2022.

According to the complaint and lawsuit, Izaguirre was on her hands and knees cleaning the jobsite, when Cisneros came up behind her and aggressively put his arms around her and pushed himself against her. Despite Izaguirre’s pleas that he stop, he continued. Cisneros pushed Izaguirre into a shower and raped her.

After the assault, Cisneros threatened Izaguirre and said he would harm her if she reported him, the lawsuit and complaint say.

Soon thereafter, the lawsuit, says, Izaguirre reported Cisneros’ sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior to her supervisor a second time. Although Izaguirre’s second report included general reference to Cisneros’ inappropriate sexual advances, harassment and touching, the lawsuit continues, “she did not expressly report the rape. She did not feel comfortable sharing such private, sensitive information with (the supervisor), particularly because he had done nothing after her first report of harassment.”

In or around August 2021, Izaguirre reported Cisneros’ sexual harassment and touching a third time, but to a different supervisor over the phone. Shortly thereafter, Izaguirre was at Absolute Drywall’s office and asked a human resources employee if there were any updates on the investigation into her report against Cisneros. The employee stated they had not heard about any type of investigation, and that there were no records of her report, the lawsuit says.

In the fall of 2021, Izaguirre reported the sexual harassment to the owner of the company. He told Izaguirre to stop reporting or she would be fired, the lawsuit alleges. She was fired in October 2021.

Changes sought

Izaguirre filed a charge of discrimination against Absolute Drywall with the state Department of Human Rights in May 2022. The agency completed its investigation in April 2024 and issued its determination finding probable cause of discrimination.

Absolute Drywall appealed the department’s determination in June, and that same month the agency affirmed its original probable cause finding against the company. In August, the parties participated in conciliation through the Human Rights Department but were unable to reach a resolution.

“To date, Defendant has refused to adopt policies prohibiting sexual harassment, reprisal, or sexual assault,” states the lawsuit, which seeks compensatory and punitive damages, and other damages in an amount to be proven at trial.

The Department of Human Rights says it wants Absolute Drywall to have and enforce anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and wants to ensure the company’s employees, including those who speak Spanish, know about the policies and can easily report sexual harassment, assault and other forms of discrimination.

“The court-ordered changes we’re seeking will help women, like Norma, who deserve respect in the workplace,” Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said in the statement.

Minnesota has one of the highest percentages of women working in construction, according to a March report by Labor Finders. However, sexual harassment in the U.S. construction industry is prevalent. A 2021 report by the Institute for Women’s Policy and Research states that nearly one in four women working in construction surveyed said they experience near constant harassment on the job.