EEOC takes on sexual harassment cases against Pittsburgh-based agency

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently took the unusual step of reopening an investigation into sexual harassment claims against a top-selling Pittsburgh, Pa. insurance agency.

The EEOC action comes amid an ongoing and highly charged lawsuit filed by a former agent over the same allegations of workplace abuse. In a federal lawsuit against Arias Agencies and others, Renee Zinsky alleges shocking acts – such as office wrestling matches, use of date rape drugs and sexual acts carried out in front of employees.

Zinsky initially filed a lawsuit in the Western District of Pennsylvania in April 2022 against Simon Arias, Arias Agencies, Michael Russin, and American Income Life Insurance Co. A judge later granted a motion to compel arbitration filed by Arias and AIL.

An arbitration hearing is scheduled for February, said Amy Williamson, a Pittsburgh lawyer who represents Zinsky. Since initially taking on Zinsky's case, Williamson said she has heard from dozens of current and former Arias employees about alleged employment violations.

"Every person I talked to had five more stories," she said. "Then all of a sudden I get barraged with people contacting me, telling me all kinds of things that I never would have imagined could still go on in a large publicly traded company. If nothing else, it’s a story of widespread illegal misconduct out in the open while regulators asleep at the wheel."

Abeni Mayfield, who had worked in Arias' office in Columbia, Md., decided to go public with sexual harassment allegations and is also represented by Williamson.

Simon Arias touts his agency as AIL's "largest distribution center in the United States" and he has enjoyed a successful run since opening his first office in 2008. Arias Agency has since grown to 13 offices in eight states, according to its website.

"Mr. Arias and the Arias Organization do not tolerate, nor condone sexual harassment, and we deny allegations of a toxic workplace culture," said Trina Orlando, a spokeswoman for Arias. "We take these allegations very seriously and look forward to defending against them."

EEOC involvement

The EEOC enforces laws that make discrimination illegal in the workplace. The commission oversees all types of work situations including hiring, firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits. It also investigated claims by Zinsky and Mayfield and dismissed them over a year ago.

The EEOC reversed itself in a Nov. 21 decision to reopen the investigation of allegations brought by the two women.

“In my practice of almost 25 years and hundreds of EEOC cases, I’ve never had a case where the EEOC took it upon itself to reopen a case, let alone multiple cases against an employer," Williamson said. "That goes for my co-counsel as well. This is extremely rare but exciting to be a part of.”

Arias has no comment on the EEOC decision, Orlando said.

The explosive allegations against Arias were first reported by Business Insider nearly a year ago. According to Zinsky's lawsuit, Simon Arias and Michael Russin ran Arias Agencies with a driven focus on big sales and hard partying. In a 2018 agency video, Arias describes Russin as "loyal as they come and super-disciplined in everything that he does."

Together they drove substantial sales for American Income Life, a subsidiary of Globe Life. In 2022, Simon Arias was honored with the Legacy Award at the 2022 Globe Life Achievement Awards.

Zinsky reported to Russin, she said in the lawsuit, and that relationship quickly went sideways.

"Russin would frequently make inappropriate, lewd, violent, degrading, and sexualized comments, threats, and other offensive behavior toward females in his professional capacity," the lawsuit reads.

Alleged sexual harassment escalates

Things escalated, Zinsky's alleged, to repeated, unwanted sexual advances by Russin, often during private vehicle rides. Russin administered the GHB and other date-rape drugs and engaged in sex acts with other Arias employees while Zinsky was in the vehicle, she alleged.

"During work meetings, Russin would often expose his genitals to Plaintiff and her female peers, along with physical gestures and verbal comments/questions such as, 'What are you going to do about this?' the lawsuit said.

Williamson said she is surprised that a publicly traded company like Globe Life would not push for a settlement in the case. None of her clients wanted to take their cases this far, she added.

"In my career of hundreds of sexual harassment cases, I’ve never had any with such egregious, depraved behavior on behalf of the employer," Williamson said. "Given Globe Life’s size and that it’s publicly traded under SEC regulations, you would think that they would have self serving interests in resolving these cases, at a minimum."

In a separate case, Williamson is representing a former Globe Life executive who claims he was fired for blowing the whistle on "potentially illegal" sales practices.

Scott Dehning claims that Globe Life and American Income Life fired him in May 2023 after he reported "a clear practice of unethical and potentially illegal business practices" to Michigan regulators.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.