The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission has filed suit on behalf of female employees at a Moriarty call center who claim they were sexually harassed by a male co-worker, The Associated Press reported.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque alleges that the Minnesota-based Data Listing Services LLC, doing business in Moriarty as The Connection, created a hostile work environment for female workers, the AP reported.

The Connection, one of Torrance County's largest employers, announced early this month that it would lay off 150 full- and part-time employees in the first part of December, according to an earlier Albuquerque Journal report.

The lawsuit alleges that a male worker, who was not identified, touched, made comments and conducted himself in a sexual way with several female employees beginning in October 2005, the AP said.

According to the Journal report, the Moriarty center that opened in 2000 in Moriarty Industrial Park and employed up to 400 people at its peak was closing because of falling demand for its services.

"It's devastating," Moriarty Mayor Adan Encinias said at the time of the closing news this month.