A woman has sued her former employer, alleging severe workplace discrimination and harassment. Michelle Donath filed a complaint against Yamazen Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on January 27, 2025. The lawsuit accuses Yamazen Inc. of sex and race discrimination, as well as retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Michelle Donath, identified in the complaint as a woman of Mexican descent with over two decades of experience in assembly tooling sales, has accused her former employer, Yamazen Inc., where she worked since January 2015. According to the complaint, Donath allegedly faced persistent sexual harassment from business associates and allegedly was subjected to discriminatory practices based on her gender and ethnicity. The complaint details an alleged incident in February 2017 when an employee from another company allegedly made lewd comments during a business trip that Donath claimes left her shocked and appalled. Despite allegedly reporting this behavior to her supervisor at Yamazen, no action allegedly was taken by the company.
The situation allegedly escalated further when Donath was demoted allegedly without notice, allegedly after reporting a rape threat she received via voicemail from an unknown caller. Her alleged efforts to address these issues internally allegedly were met with alleged indifference or alleged outright hostility from senior management at Yamazen. In one instance, Donath claims Jim Hansen, president of Yamazen, alleged criticized Donath for sending an email detailing her experiences of harassment and allegedly instead focused on questioning her loyalty to the company.
Donath's lawsuit claims that she was treated less favorably than her male colleagues and faced retaliation for speaking out against harassment. She alleges that after raising concerns about safety following incidents involving firearms with another colleague and enduring inappropriate conduct from supervisors, she experienced unjustified demotion and eventual termination in May 2023 while dealing with health issues.
The complaint seeks various forms of relief including compensation for lost wages and benefits due to unlawful termination, damages for emotional distress caused by the hostile work environment, punitive damages under Title VII provisions, as well as attorneys' fees and costs associated with pursuing legal action.
Representing Michelle Donath is attorney Davina Rae DiPaolo from Loftus & Eisenberg Ltd.
Case ID No. 1:25-cv-00919.