A Kentucky-based grocery chain has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit that originated in Alabama, filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Oppor­tunity Commission (EEOC).

The case stemmed from Houchens Food Group’s Pic-N-Sav grocery store in Evergreen, in Conecuh County.

According to the lawsuit, female employees at the store were subjected to frequent, unwelcome sexual touching by a regular customer “for several years” despite employee complaints to supervisors.

On June 5, 2020, one female employee called the police, who came to the store and issued the customer a trespass notice signed by the store manager, according to the suit. Despite this, the customer was still allowed to enter the store until at least September of that year.

According to the EEOC, the Houchens Food Group will pay $50,000 to one victim of the harassment. The company will also develop or revise policies and procedures to prevent and correct sexual harassment, and is required to conduct annual compliance training in its Evergreen store and 15 other stores in Alabama.

“An employer has a duty to protect its employees from a hostile environment of frequent or serious sexual harassment when it knows of the ongoing harassment,” Bradley Anderson, district director of EEOC’s Birmingham office, said. “It is an unacceptable and unlawful practice to ignore complaints and continue to allow such misconduct, even from a customer.”