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Ford CEO's Speech Against Sex Harassment Rings False To Some

(CBS) -- Explosive allegations about sexual harassment inside Chicago's two Ford plants prompted a visit by the company's CEO Friday.

He addressed the matter, but CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports, some are upset he didn't meet personally with any of the women impacted.

Ford CEO Jim Hackett walks through Chicago's assembly plant. His visit comes weeks after a New York Times article about widespread sexual harassment here at the plant -- and three years after 31 local women filed a lawsuit claiming the same.

"That can't happen anymore. I want to tell you that personally, people will lose their jobs," Hackett said Friday at the automaker's Chicago Heights plant.

His presentation at the assembly plant, the epicenter of alleged sex harassment, became a hand-picked, pre-screened, private meeting.

Longtime employee Gwajuana Gray was a plaintiff in the first sexual harassment lawsuit against Ford in the 90's.

She went in on her day off, hoping to speak with Hackett about the ongoing issues -- with no luck. Attorney Keith Hunt calls it a "dog and pony" show.

"He should talk to the women who have been victimized and ask them how this has this happened and how can I fix it, and he's not doing that," Hunt says.

Sources tell CBS 2 harassment is still rampant.

A T-shirt sold at one plant last summer is so graphic CBS 2 had to blur most words for this report. Sources say such offenses go unpunished.

 

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