Owego-based Tioga Transport Incorporated has agreed to pay thousands to settle a sexual harassment suit. The company, which once provided public transit services in Tioga County, is set to pay $17,500 after a complaint was filed in which Tioga Transport was accused of creating and maintaining a hostile work environment for female workers. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission made the complaint and filed it in district court at the end of June. The agreement between the commission and Tioga Transport will call for the company to pay the $17,500 to five workers, but does not constitute an admission of guilt. Tioga Transport provided public transportation and non-emergency Medicaid transportation to residents of Tioga County until its contract expired this past December. Under the contract, the company employed bus drivers and maintained the buses, which were county-owned. The lawsuit against the company focused on an accusation that the company’s owner made inappropriate gestures involving women’s bodies. The lawsuit alleges that an employee complained to the company about the hostile work environment but Tioga Transport took no action to stop it. Tioga County no longer has a contract with Tioga Transport.
