A woman has reached a tentative settlement in her lawsuit against the Construction Teamsters Contract Compliance Fund for Southern California in which she alleged she was forced to resign from her job as a contract compliance officer in 2024, both because of a hostile work environment and due to her taking time off to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Plaintiff Ambar Au further contended in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that a male manager made inappropriate comments to her about her chest, told others that a different female employee was in a porn video and that women in general should be at home making sandwiches instead of working.
On Wednesday, Au’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Marisa Hernandez-Stern informing her of a “conditional” accord in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be brought by March 3, 2027. No terms were divulged.
In their previous court papers, defense attorneys denied Au’s allegations, said they were barred by the statute of limitations and that any management actions taken concerning the plaintiff were a “proper exercise of managerial discretion” and were based on “legitimate business reasons.”
Au’s original lawsuit was filed in August 2025 and was amended three times. She was hired as a contract compliance officer in March 2023. Au suffered from pre-hiring anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to her complaint.
Soon after Au started her job, the CTCTF’s apprentice ship director told her he believed other women on the team would be jealous of her because she was attractive, according to the complaint. That same year, the director told Au women should be “making sandwiches and washing dishes” and that a co-worker told the plaintiff the man often made such statements, the suit stated.
The director also said an Au colleague had been featured in a pornographic video and that a breast enhancement weakened her immune system and caused her frequent coronavirus affliction, the suit further stated. The director also said a female assistant coordinator was a “whore” who had been intimate with instructors and that he wanted her fired, the suit contended.
Au went on medical leave due to her pre-existing health conditions and when she returned she suffered immediate retaliation when her job contract compliance duties were taken away, she was put in a makeshift office and was no longer allowed to attend meetings important to her position, the suit stated.
The alleged retaliation, harassment and discrimination caused Au to resign in November 2024, according to her suit.