+- My Northern Wisconsin (https://www.mynorthernwisconsin.com/news)
+-- Category: My Price County (https://www.mynorthernwisconsin.com/news/forum-5.html)
+--- Category: News: Phillips, Kennan, and Catawba (https://www.mynorthernwisconsin.com/news/forum-9.html)
+--- Topic: UNITED PRIDE DAIRY LLC FACES EEOC LAWSUIT (/thread-750.html)
UNITED PRIDE DAIRY LLC FACES EEOC LAWSUIT - My Northern Wisconsin - 12-19-2025
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has created a lawsuit against United Pride Dairy LLC, a dairy farm in Phillips.
The EEOC asserts that United Pride Dairy "violated federal law when it subjected three employees of Mexican origin to disparate treatment in the terms and conditions of employment and also subjected a female employee to sexual harassment."
According to EEOC, United Pride allegedly "promised three Mexican nationals professional and/or management positions when they were hired and submitted the same information to the U.S. Embassy for their TN Visa applications, but when the three Mexican nationals arrived on the farm, the dairy denied the promised positions and instead gave them laborer positions and assigned more arduous tasks and shifts to Mexican workers. When a Mexican worker complained, a manager at United Pride Dairy justified the disparate work assignment based on a negative stereotype of American workers, saying 'Americans are lazy.'"
The complaint also alleges that a "female Mexican employee’s direct supervisor subjected her to sexual harassment when he frequently shared demeaning pornographic images with her and repeatedly made sexually offensive comments to her."
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said, “Workplace actions based on unlawful stereotypes about any group of workers — including assumptions that foreign workers are somehow ‘better’ than Americans — are a serious violation of federal law. The law is clear: employers cannot abuse the visa process to import foreign labor under false pretenses. The EEOC is committed to vigorous enforcement of our laws so all workers in this country are treated fairly and lawfully.”
The EEOC's Chicago District Office is responsible for processing these charges.
Nicole Marklein is the attorney representing United Pride Dairy LLC. She asserts that the farm was working in full cooperation with the investigation and feels no evidence was revealed to support these claims. She told My Price County, "We are disappointed and concerned to learn that the EEOC has filed this lawsuit despite my client’s full cooperation with an investigation that has revealed no evidence of unlawful discrimination or harassment. To preserve the integrity of the judicial system and prevent inappropriate communications to potential jurors, applicable rules of professional conduct prohibit attorneys from making certain public statements regarding pending litigation. Therefore, I am even more alarmed by the press release issued by the EEOC regarding this pending lawsuit, particularly because the release makes allegations against my client that are simply false. Due to my professional obligations and respect for the integrity of the civil justice system, I am unable to provide details regarding this lawsuit. However, my client denies that it discriminated against or otherwise mistreated any of its employees—regardless of their race, gender, nationality, or any other protected basis. While my client and I wish the EEOC would use its resources to investigate and remediate true instances of employment discrimination, we have no choice but to vigorously defend this baseless lawsuit."