Several large insurance companies call Wisconsin home, including Milwaukee’s Northwestern Mutual and Madison’s American Family Insurance. Stevens Point’s Sentry Insurance is one of the nation’s top mutual insurance companies specializing in business coverage.
Sentry was recently sued by a couple who worked for its hospitality business, alleging gender-based discrimination, age discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. The married couple worked at SentryWorld – an offshoot of Sentry Insurance – where they claimed in their federal lawsuit that a hostile, sexist work environment exists.
Teresa Fischer said she endured sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination while working as a manager at a SentryWorld restaurant. Her husband, David, 69, managed SentryWorld’s banquet department and claims that he was a victim of age discrimination and retaliation for objecting to his wife’s working conditions.
They contend that they were subjected to abuse by SentryWorld’s general manager and the facility’s executive chef. The couple’s employment law attorney stated that “Sentry put in charge men who abused, silenced, marginalized and even preyed upon women. Sentry then further victimized women by rewarding those men when the company had cause to know of the abuse and retaliated against the one man who formally protested the abuse.”
A SentryWorld spokesperson said the allegations are “outrageous” and “untrue” and were made by a couple that “failed on multiple occasions to meet the high standards of performance Sentry and our SentryWorld guests expect.”
Teresa Fischer was fired in March of 2017 and her husband was fired eight months later.
A female Sentry employee settled a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit with the company in April of last year. Terms were not disclosed.
Milwaukee residents facing similarly hostile working conditions can talk with an employment law attorney with Alan C. Olson and Associates about their legal options.
