Today, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights announced in a press conference that it had taken action to join a lawsuit against construction subcontractor Absolute Drywall for violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act by allowing an employee to sexually harrass and rape another employee. 

In the 2 years since Absolute Drywall worker Norma Izaguirre publicly shared her story of being raped on a jobsite, Absolute Drywall has continued to work on projects for some of the most prominent Twin Cities developers. The continued use of Absolute Drywall showcases an industry-wide failure and a lack of accountability for contractors whose workplace culture and practices allow abuse and exploitation.

“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,” said Norma Izaguirre. “I hope that by standing up for myself and speaking out, other women feel empowered to tell their stories and employers who are abusive to their workers are held accountable.”

Izaguirre’s experience is not an isolated one. According to a recent report, nearly one in four women working in construction experience near constant sexual harassment on the job. 

Yolanda Marisol, a member of CTUL’s Women in Construction Committee, reflected the following: “It takes a certain courage to work in this industry. We do this work proudly, to feed and care for our families. Norma’s story is our story, almost all of us have experienced some kind of harassment or abuse. We stay silent out of fear of losing our jobs and our source of income. But our voices should be heard and believed. We have rights as women, as human beings. I hope that this is the start of real change, a message sent to companies, contractors, and to any employer who does not respect us.”

Workers who report abusive treatment to their bosses often have their complaints dismissed and face retaliation —  including Izaguirre, who was fired after she brought her complaints to company owner Daniel Ortega.

It takes tremendous courage for workers like Iziguirre to bring complaints to their supervisors, to the public, and to government authorities. But it shouldn’t have to. 

“Developers and contractors have a key role to play in preventing worker abuse,” Attorney General Keith Ellison stated. He named the limitations of government enforcement of labor rights and raised up the need for preventative measures and worker education. “We can only take on bad actors if people are willing to come forward. One weakness of this system is that it is a complaint based system. You don’t complain, we don’t know about it.”

Current systems of accountability do not account for the fear and retaliation that workers face given these common responses to labor complaints. Without independent third party monitoring of job sites, protective structures, swift and timely consequences, and the worker education and empowerment to use those structures, the conditions and culture that led to Norma’s assault will continue to exist.

The Building Dignity and Respect Program was created by workers, for workers, to remedy these key structural issues. The BDR Program supports and implements a set of standards that bring dignified working conditions to the workplace. The monitoring of these standards is effective due to its multi-prong approach; workers are informed of their rights and processes for raising a complaint and workers can access timely resolutions to their grievances through a support line and continuous auditing carried out by an independent monitoring body. The program’s enforcement is backed by the power of developers who can set the conditions for doing business with contractors and incentivize compliance and protection of workers against human rights abuses such as sexual violence and retaliation.

Government investigations in 2016 and 2018 found that Absolute Drywall robbed workers of more than $126,000 in wages, violated child labor laws, misclassified workers, and submitted false and misleading information during the course of an investigation. Twin Cities developers who used Absolute Drywall after the conclusions of those investigations include MWF Properties, Enclave, Dominium, Greystar, MV Ventures owned by the Wilf family, Solhem, Yellow Tree, Hall Sweeney, Perkins-Levin, Oppidan, Schaefer Richardson, United Properties, and Roers Companies. 

United Properties and Roers have recently met with CTUL construction leaders to better understand their experiences and concerns. We hope that these companies will continue taking steps to ensure workers rights are protected on their job sites, by bringing the Building Dignity and Respect Program and monitoring to their worksites.