04-03-2025
Minnesota sues drywall company accused of firing worker who reported being raped on job
Minnesota is joining a lawsuit filed against a Twin Cities construction company after its management allegedly fired a woman who reported being sexually harassed and raped on the job by a co-worker.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights says the lawsuit was filed by Norma Izaguirre, who alleges Lakeville's Absolute Drywall violated the state's Human Rights Act by failing to protect her from harassment and sexual assault. The office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison took on the case following the department's investigation.
According to the lawsuit, Izaguirre says she first learned of the job opportunity with Absolute Drywall from her eventual rapist while at a restaurant. She went on to work as an on-site cleaner for the company from January to September 2021 and was "immediately and consistently sexually harassed" by the man, who worked as a drywall laborer.
Documents say the man raped her while she was cleaning a tub on a worksite in Eagan in May of that year. Izaguirre says she reported him five times to management, who "failed to take any meaningful action" and eventually decreased her work hours down to zero, according to court documents.
Later that year, her attacker parted ways with the company and was charged in her assault. He pleaded guilty last month to third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Izaguirre filed a human rights complaint with the state, which eventually found Absolute Drywall had no policies in place to prevent harassment and assault or ways its workers could report it, including those who speak Spanish.
"When anyone is discriminated against or harassed, our state and our businesses are deprived of enormous potential," said Rebecca Lucero, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. "Norma deserved to be treated with humanity. Instead, Absolute Drywall allowed sexual harassment and rape to go unchecked."
Izaguirre is seeking damages and is demanding the company make "clear anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies," and to ensure its employees "can easily report sexual harassment, assault and other forms of discrimination."
"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. "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."
The department says Minnesota is among the top states when it comes to the percentage of women working in the construction industry. A 2021 report by Institute for Women's Policy and Research found nearly a quarter of the female construction workers it surveyed said they face frequent sexual harassment from co-workers.
In January, the department settled a lawsuit with Home Depot on behalf of a woman who was sexually harassed by co-workers for years at its Fridley location.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights also entered into a consent decree in 2023 with the owner of several Twin Cities McDonald's restaurants after a 14-year-old employee was sexually assaulted by her manager.
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Sexual Assault Resources
(SOS – Ramsey County)
Sexual Violence Center (SVC – Hennepin County)
Aurora Center (U of MN)
360 Communities (Dakota County)
Hope Center (Rice County)
Canvas Health (Washington County)
Alexandra House (Anoka County)
General Sites for information related to sexual assault and resources throughout Minnesota:
Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
General Sexual Assault Websites:
