Packinghouse Found Guilty of Discrimination

A federal judge in Los Angeles District Court has ruled that Oxnard Lemon Co., a lemon packinghouse in Oxnard, was guilty of discriminating against women in hiring from December, 1987, to May, 1991.

The ruling, announced earlier this month, was a partial summary judgment in a case also involving allegations of discrimination in promotions and job assignments. Those aspects of the suit are set for trial in September.

The case against Oxnard Lemon, an affiliate of Sunkist Growers Inc. of Sherman Oaks, was brought by seven women in a suit filed in 1991. In issuing the summary judgment, attorneys said, Judge David Kenyon said that men who left their names and phone numbers with Oxnard Lemon were called in to apply for jobs, while women who did the same thing were not given a chance to apply for those same jobs.