14 Sept 12th-Sept 18th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Gallegos engaged in a series of inappro- priate sexual behaviors in the workplace. The agency said he often made degrading comments about female customers and employees, shared crude sexual jokes, asked female employees for sex and touched female employees inappropriately. Gallegos also entered a romantic relationship with an employee he super- vised. When other staffers questioned him about the relationship, he threatened to fire them and told them “that if they reported his actions to management, they would not be believed because manage- ment would take his side,” the EEOC said. The EEOC noted that one employee did report Gallegos’ behavior to Bark If You’re Dirty operations manager Brittany Skahill, who confronted Gallegos about it. Later that same day, according to the EEOC, Gallegos fired the employee who made the complaint. Additionally, two other employees resigned “rather than continue to be subjected to his sexually harassing conduct and management’s inaction to prevent it.” According to the EEOC, Gallegos’ inappropriate behavior was very much on the company’s radar. The agency remarked that Gallegos “received several warnings and poor performance reviews for inappropriate behavior,” including “talking about non-work related topics” and asking employees “to give him rides home.” In April 2021, the EEOC said, Skahill received a sexual harassment complaint against Gallegos and referred it to the company’s human resources vendor, Work Shield, for review. Additionally, Skahill told Work Shield that store cameras “captured Gallegos threatening employees with termination should they interfere with his relationship.” After an investigation, Work Shield recommended firing Gallegos “for sexu- ally harassing female employees and dating female subordinate employees.” A day later, Bark If You’re Dirty terminated Gallegos’ employment. However, the EEOC said the company did not cite Gallegos’ harassing behavior as the reason for his dismissal. Instead, the agency said, Gallegos was fired for “performance-based job-related issues, such as his email response time and his failure to consistently wear his name tag.” Moving forward As part of the company’s settlement agreement, Bark If You’re Dirty agreed to update its sexual harassment policies and conduct sexual harassment training for employees and managers. Additionally, the company agreed to never rehire Kelley or Gallegos. The provisions of the settlement will be enforced by a federal judge for three years. Neither Kelley nor Gallegos could be reached for comment. New Times also could not contact Nichols, who made the complaint against Kelley, or McAfee and Skahill, the two supervisors named in the EEOC suit. The EEOC will distribute the $340,000 settlement between Nichols and other female employees who experi- enced harassment while working at Bark If You’re Dirty. By agreeing to the settle- ment, the women relinquish all legal claims against the company. For its part, the company agreed to the settlement amount while admitting no liability. “We believe that focusing on our core mission of providing quality service and support to our community is paramount,” Steve Strauss said in his statement, “and this settlement allows us to do so without the distraction of ongoing legal matters.” According to the EEOC, store cameras captured a Bark If You’re Dirty manager threatening to fire employees who reported his romantic relationship with a subordinate. (Photo by Zach Buchanan) Pet Shop Problems from p 12
