Monster’s employee guidelines reviewed by HuffPost require

Trapped Inside The Monster Energy Frat House

canada goose A sixth woman has come forward to complain about sexual discrimination at Monster Energy, a male dominated beverage company that appears to be plagued by a toxic work culture. canada goose

The woman,, a 50 year old former sales representative based in Alabama, spent nearly two years with Monster. She amassed a strong track record, even as she fended off one of her Atlanta based managers, Ted Cook, who hit on her, made comments about her breasts, tried to get her drunk and invited her more than once for an “evening nightcap” in his hotel room on work trips, she told HuffPost.

canada goose deals Robert Duck, Simmons’ direct boss who works out of Monster’s office in Florida, also witnessed Cook’s behavior, but told her to brush it off, she said. “He said Ted was harmless, ‘a dirty old man,'” Simmons recalled. He did not respond to follow up texts. Cook also did not respond to a call, text or LinkedIn message. canada goose deals

Simmons had worked for about 20 years in the beverage industry, a notoriously unfriendly business for women. “I knew saying things gets you retaliation.”

cheap Canada Goose What Simmons did not realize was that whether or not she spoke up, she was already trapped inside a company where the odds are stacked against women. cheap Canada Goose

canada goose clearance sale Last April,Simmons was fired for reasons she still doesn’t quite canadian goose jacket understand. Monster says canada goose store it was for poor performance, according to a spokesman for the company. Simmons says her dismissal occurred a few months after receiving a generally positive performance review and just as she was poised to win an internal sales contest. Equal canada goose black friday sale Employment Opportunity Commission. canada goose clearance sale

canada goose coats on sale “I knew saying things canada goose uk outlet gets you retaliation.”Monster is also facing lawsuits from five other women over complaints of sexual discrimination and other issues, as first reported in a HuffPost investigation in January. canada goose coats on sale

canada goose store One Monster executive, head of music marketing Brent Hamilton, is facing felony assault charges for allegedly strangling Canada Goose Outlet his girlfriend on a company business trip. He is still employed by the company. canada goose store

Another executive, John Kenneally, a vice president accused of sexually harassing two women at the company, resigned after HuffPost published details of the accusations in January. He ran the business unit that Simmons worked buy canada goose jacket in.

Canada Goose Outlet In public statements canada goose coats at the time, the company painted the women as disgruntled employees and said that the suits were unrelated. Canada Goose Outlet

“Monster Energy has zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind,” the company said in January. “Monster takes all reported complaints very seriously. Any suggestions to the contrary are false.”

Canada Goose Parka Just as HuffPost was set to publish this story, Monster announced it was hiring a buy canada goose jacket cheap third party to review its human canada goose coats on sale resource policies and procedures. The investigators will report straight to the company’s board of directors. Canada Goose Parka

“We are confident that the recent portrayal of the company in the media is not representative of [our] culture and practices,” Monster chairman and CEO Rodney Sacks and vice chair and president Canada Goose online Hilton Schlosberg said in a statement. But they added that “in the context of the allegations made by the women bringing these lawsuits, we believe itis prudent.”

The company declined to provide more details on the third party. “If there are areas where there are Canada Goose Online deficients, we will correct them,” Sacks and Schlosberg said.

“Ms. Simmons did not make any allegation of harassment to the company canada goose uk shop or to her manager while she was employed by the company,” the statement said. Monster only learned of the claim at a mediation session with Simmons and her lawyer in mid February, the statement said. This was about three weeks after HuffPost Canada Goose Parka published its investigation, the statement points canada goose out. Monster also said that Cook is no longer with the company.

canada goose clearance Simmons’ former boss Duck, who she said witnessed Cook’s behavior, Canada Goose sale is still working at Monster. canada goose canada goose factory sale clearance

canada goose black friday sale Through a spokesman, Monster also told HuffPost canada goose clearance sale that Simmons’ account was “not accurate.” Simmons’ last employee evaluation included significant feedback about areas for improvement, the spokesman said. It was not positive. canada goose black friday sale

buy canada goose jacket In response to other questions and requests for cheap canada goose information, the spokesman wrote: “Many of the other allegations or questions are untrue, cheap canada goose uk are missing facts or are irrelevant but we are not going to engage in a back and forth about this.” buy canada goose jacket

After reading HuffPost’s reports, and looking into the cases filed against Monster, Simmons was shocked to learn that another female employee at the company, Page Zeringue, had gone to the human resources department to complain about Cook well before Simmons started working under him.

Canada Goose sale In a lawsuit against Monster, Zeringue alleges that her complaint to HR helped trigger her firing, ostensibly for bad performance. Canada Goose sale

Meanwhile, Cook was sent to sexual harassment training, according to internal documents viewed by HuffPost. This was around the same time Simmons was hired.

buy canada goose jacket cheap Monster Energy markets its drinks primarily to men using cliched tropes about masculinity. Scantily clad Monster Girls in leather bikini tops serve as brand ambassadors. One beverage is actually called “Assault.” canada goose clearance A few years ago, the company gave out Monster branded condoms as a promotional gimmick. buy canada goose jacket cheap

canada goose coats That toxic male culture translates into policy where sexual harassment is not taken seriously. Monster’s employee guidelines reviewed by HuffPost require that managers who observe sexual misconduct must report it. But in Simmons’ case, it appears that her direct boss, Duck, never informed HR about Cook’s conduct. canada goose coats

Canada Goose Jackets Even if HR https://www.canadagoosepark.com learns about misbehavior, Canada Goose Coats On Sale what passes for an investigation into sexual harassment complaints seems to amount to a surface questioning of the parties involved, where the accounts of men are weighed uk canada goose more seriously. Canada Goose Jackets

canadian goose jacket Monster said some of the numbers HuffPost obtained were incorrect, but uk canada goose outlet declined to offer specifics or provide its own data. In an earlier statement to HuffPost the company said “many women hold top leadership canada goose uk black friday positions within Monster,” and pointed to its chief commercialization officer, Emelie Tirre canadian goose jacket.