Hackett Vows to End Harassment in Ford Factories

CEO Jim Hackett promises employees that Ford Motor Co. will try harder to root out all forms of harassment, warning those who persist that “we don’t want you here, and we will move you out.”

Hackett’s vow stems from last week’s New York Times report, based on interviews with more than 70 current and former employees, about widespread sexual harassment at a Ford assembly plant outside Chicago.

The news is hardly new. The facility and a stamping plant nearby have been the target of at least two rounds of previous legal complaints—and ineffective vows of reform by Ford and the United Auto Workers—spanning more than 25 years.

Most recently, Ford paid $10 million in August to settle an array of sexual and racial harassment claims. Two years ago the company removed several officials at the assembly plant after a federal investigation found evidence of widespread problems there. In 2000 Ford paid nearly $20 million to settle similar complaints.