Workers allegedly raised complaints to HR as early as 2021 — nothing changed
Federal regulators are scrutinizing how one cannabis employer allegedly handled repeated sexual harassment complaints involving its own HR team.
On March 30, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit in federal court in Illinois accusing Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. of subjecting female employees at its Collinsville, Ill., dispensary and warehouse to a sexually hostile work environment and causing one employee’s constructive discharge. The case is at an early stage, and a court has not made any findings. The allegations have not been proven.
In the filing, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc., Case No. 3:26-cv-00378, the agency identifies two charging parties, Nicole McCann and Aimee Stephens, and refers to a class of other female workers allegedly affected by the same practices.
Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. is described in the lawsuit as a large-scale cannabis cultivator, producer, wholesaler and retailer that operates a dispensary and warehouse in Collinsville, Illinois. According to the filing, the company has employed approximately 70 individuals at that facility since September 2022.
The commission says the harassment centered on the General Manager of the Collinsville site, Steve Garmon, who held that role from approximately February 2021 until his termination in July 2023. McCann worked as a Dispensary Associate at the facility from August 30, 2022, to April 5, 2023. Stephens worked as a Dispensary Associate there from September 2022 to June 2024.
According to the lawsuit, since at least September 2022, Garmon and other male employees openly engaged in sexual and sex-based comments and conduct directed at McCann, Stephens and other female employees. The filing states that this conduct occurred on a daily or near-daily basis, that male employees engaged in it in the presence of managers and supervisors, and that Garmon and at least one other male supervisor participated in the harassment.
The alleged behavior includes touching, sexual comments, sexual advances, requests for sex and comments about the appearances and bodies of female employees and customers. The commission says Garmon’s comments to a female employee included, “I’ve never seen an ass like that on a White girl,” and, “I think you should come hang out with me.” The filing states that he also described sexual acts he wanted to perform with her.
The lawsuit further alleges that Garmon invited at least one female employee to a hotel, sent her sexually suggestive messages, commented about what he wanted to do to her sexually, told her what to wear to shape her “behind” the way he liked, and ultimately cornered her in a manager-only closet, forcibly kissed her without her consent and forced her hand to his genitals.
For HR leaders, a central allegation is that concerns were raised internally. As early as 2021, multiple female employees complained to Ascend’s Human Resources managers about Garmon’s conduct, according to the filing. The commission says those HR managers failed or refused to stop the conduct.
The lawsuit states that McCann, Stephens and one or more other female employees found the conduct so intimidating, offensive and abusive that it affected their ability to perform their job duties and altered the terms and conditions of their employment. In or around early April 2023, Garmon allegedly lured McCann to a delivery room and said, “it is just going to be me and you” in what the filing describes as a threatening and sexually suggestive manner. Feeling very uncomfortable and concerned for her safety, McCann left the facility. The commission alleges that McCann was so discouraged and distressed by the daily harassment, fear of escalating conduct and the company’s failure to address Garmon’s behavior that she was forced to quit her job.
The EEOC brings two claims: sex discrimination through a hostile work environment and sex discrimination through constructive discharge. It is seeking a permanent injunction barring Ascend Wellness from subjecting employees to a hostile work environment or constructive discharge because of sex, an order requiring the company to institute policies and programs providing equal employment opportunities for women, backpay and lost benefits for McCann, compensation for pecuniary and nonpecuniary losses for McCann, Stephens and a class of other aggrieved female employees, and punitive damages. The agency has requested a jury trial.
