Prineville-based Les Schwab Tire Centers has been hit with the fifth case in seven years alleging it violated an employee’s civil rights.

Teia Erickson, who worked at Les Schwab on South U.S. Highway 97 in Bend, filed a sexual discrimination complaint against Les Schwab Tire Centers, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries reported Tuesday.

Erickson, who lives in Bend, said she was hired April 1 to work as a tire technician and that she was laid off June 15, according to the complaint. Erickson told The Bulletin on Tuesday that her supervisors laid her off because they said business was slow.

In her complaint with BOLI, she states that her former employer subjected her to sexually hostile working conditions and different treatment because of her gender. More than 50 employees work at the South Highway 97 Les Schwab, according to the complaint.

This is the fifth civil rights violation case filed against a Bend Les Schwab since 1999, said Marc Zolton, communications manager for BOLI. Of the five, one other was for alleged sexual discrimination, filed in 1999, Zolton said. He did not know how the cases were resolved.

In January, Washington state Les Schwab employees Jennifer Strange and Megan Morris filed a sexual harassment class action lawsuit against the company, alleging Les Schwab has a history of denying women promotion, training and other employment opportunities because of their sex. Additionally, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit May 31 against Les Schwab on behalf of the women.

”We disagree with the EEOC and are disappointed it has reached this stage,” Les Schwab Human Resources Director Jodie Hueske said in a statement released in June. ”We have fully cooperated with the agency to date and while we continue to hope this can be resolved, we will vigorously defend our position, if necessary. We are committed to equal opportunity practices in all aspects of our business.”

Les Schwab representatives declined to comment on Erickson’s case, saying the company does not comment on pending investigations.

Erickson told The Bulletin that she did not complain to her supervisors while experiencing the problems because many of her supervisors were participating in the harassment.

In Erickson’s case, which BOLI officially received Oct. 31, she alleges:

* Les Schwab supervisors denied her training when new male employees were given training and orientation.

* Male co-workers refused to help and/or work with her.

* Male co-workers would laugh and belittler her, making her feel unwelcome and out of place.

* Male co-workers would hose her down so her clothes were drenched.

* Erickson did not have a dressing room separate from the men, causing male co-workers to dress in front of her.

* Male co-workers were allowed to put up pictures of naked women in their lockers, which she said were always open and in plain sight.

* Male co-workers would make fun of her undergarments.

* Male co-workers would subject her to sexual jokes and comments.

Les Schwab is one of the largest independent tire and automotive businesses in the country, with 7,000 employees in 400 locations throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada, Alaska and Utah.