The consent decree also includes provisions for equal employment opportunity training, reporting, and posting of anti-discrimination notices. The EEOC lawsuit accused the owner of 28 Event Space of retaliating against an African American employee who was a witness in an earlier race discrimination claim against Profile Cabinet and Design. McAlpin, who was the police chief in Sneads from 2006 to 2018, argued that he was terminated by the Town . In November 2012, a federal court ordered Caldwell Freight Lines, a now defunct company, to pay $120,000 to settle a race discrimination complaint stemming from its alleged refusal to hire Black applicants to work on its loading dock even though it is no longer in business. The Commission filed a contempt action, and on March 2, 2017, the court approved an amended consent decree that extended the injunctive requirements of the decree by one year. 4:10-CV-002070-SWW (E.D. Wis., No. The Regulation. In April 2010, the EEOC settled its lawsuit against Professional Building Systems for $118,000 and significant non-monetary relief after it had identified at least 12 Black employees who had been subjected to racial harassment there. According to the EEOC, a parts department manager, who is White, allegedly used the "N-word" to refer to at least two Black employees and made racially derogatory comments and jokes on a near daily basis at the dealership. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are reminders that employers must make reasonable accommodations for deaf and hearing-impaired job applicants . Following the determination, the County of Kauai entered into an over two-year conciliation agreement with the EEOC and the alleged victim. According to the lawsuit, a class of African American employees had been subjected to race discrimination, racial harassment, and retaliation for complaining about the misconduct. In a judgment entered Oct. 9, the district court upheld the jury verdict that AA Foundries must pay punitive damages of $100,000 to former employee Christopher Strickland, $60,000 to former employee Leroy Beal, and $40,000 to former employee Kenneth Bacon. The court denied the request. Among other reasons for removal, the coroner testified that he disagreed with Linehan's attempts to discipline certain subordinate employees. EEOC v. Patterson-UTI Drilling Co., No. The decision noted that the Agency took six months to engage in an internal investigation and issue the coworker a proposed 30-day suspension. info@eeoc.gov 19, 2011). 2:11-cv-02861 (W.D. The EEOC's suit also alleged that, about a week after the distributor finally removed the graffiti, a second message appeared, this time stating "KKK I hate N*****s." The EEOC alleged that this second message remained visible for over three months after the employee alerted the EEOC to the situation. May 24, 2016). In December 2011, a New York City retail-wholesale fish market agreed to pay $900,000 and institute anti-discrimination measures to settle an EEOC lawsuit charging it with creating a hostile work environment for Black and African male employees. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on three claims of disability discrimination against Walmart, the federal agency announced today. The employee also was subjected to national origin discrimination based on her name and accent when the district supervisor allegedly excluded the employee from staff meetings because he said the other employees could not understand her accent and asked her to change her name because the customers could not pronounce it. However, none of the lawsuits filed in January were publicized. EEOC v. Sierra Restroom Solutions, LLC, Civ. EEOC v. Matrix L.L.C., Civil Action No. The EEOC presented evidence that a change Walmart made to Spaeths longstanding work schedule caused her significant difficulty. In April 2008, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the district court's decision granting summary judgment to the defendant on the plaintiff's Title VII claim alleging that he was subjected to a racially hostile work environment. Ms. The complainant resigned and was replaced by a White junior account manager who earned a higher base salary than complainant had ever earned as an account manager. The chain was charged with refusing to hire African-American applicants and having managers who used racial slurs to refer to African-Americans. Furthermore, the company must conduct training on federal anti-discrimination laws, report on company responses to complaints, and post a remedial notice. In July 2006, EEOC reached a $100,000 settlement in its Title VII lawsuit against a Springfield, Missouri grocery chain alleging that a Black assistant manager was subjected to racially derogatory comments and epithets and was permanently suspended in retaliation for complaining about his store manager's racial harassment of him and the manager's sexual harassment of another worker. Guessous v. Fairview Prop. EEOC v. Columbine Health Sys. Along with a monetary settlement, the three-year consent decree requires the company to disseminate and post a modified anti-discrimination policy; designate specific individuals to whom raced-based discrimination complaints should be directed; provide at least three hours of anti-discrimination training by a compliance specialist for all management and supervisory personnel; and submit a written report to the EEOC after one year identifying all race-based discrimination complaints. The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. In November 2007, the Commission upheld an Administrative Judge's finding of discrimination on the bases of race (African-American), sex (female), and disability (cervical strain/sprain) when complainant was not accommodated with a high back chair. The three-year consent decree provides that the company also will take meaningful steps toward ensuring a work environment that is free from harassment by redistributing its anti-discrimination policy and providing annual anti-harassment training for certain human resources professionals and managers. Retaliating against a previous lawsuit filed and won as well as for fmla leave, race discrimination when two African American males assaulted me after calling the manager multiple times for help and he refused, after being distracted by verbal threats by one, the other sneaks beside me and shoved me until I eventually . In February 2010, Big Lots paid $400,000 to settle a race harassment and discrimination lawsuit in which the EEOC alleged that the company took no corrective action to stop an immediate supervisor and co-workers, all Hispanic, from subjecting a Black maintenance mechanic and other Black employees to racially derogatory jokes, comments, slurs and epithets, including the use of the words "n----r" and "monkey," at its California distribution center. Pa. Jan. 6, 2012). For workers, the ruling is a reminder to make certain of the completeness of all filings with the EEOC to avoid potential exhaustion problems. The EEOC had charged that the company unlawfully retaliated against an employee for objecting to race discrimination. In April 2009, high-end retailer Nordstrom settled an EEOC lawsuit alleging that it permitted the harassment despite complaints by Hispanic and Black employees about a department manager who said she "hated Hispanics" and that they were "lazy" and "ignorant" and that she didn't like Blacks and told one employee, "You're Black, you stink." CHICAGO An eight-member jury in Green Bay, Wisconsin returned a verdict of $125,150,000 in favor of the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with older federal workers on Monday, making it easier for those over 40 to sue for . The Court decided that there was substantial evidence to support the Commission's determination that the coroner's reasons for Linehan's demotion and subsequent termination were pretextual. In this Title VII case, EEOC claimed mineral lease provisions that require companies mining on the Navajo reservation in Arizona to give employment preferences to Navajos are unlawful. Additionally, managers allegedly imitated what they perceived to be the speech and mannerisms of Black employees, and denied them breaks while allowing breaks to White employees. According to the EEOC's lawsuit, a Puerto Rican store manager allegedly harassed a dark-complexioned Puerto Rican sales associate because of his skin color (e.g., taunting him about his color and asking why he was "so Black") and then fired him for complaining. You should also consider the "present value" of money. According to the EEOC, female employees were subjected to the constant use of racial slurs and derogatory sex-based and racial comments, yelling and physical intimidation. The Court also took issue with KCSR's failure to document the reasons for the terminations and inability to identify the decisionmaker. On appeal, the circuit court decided that "the subject of race was improperly introduced into the selection process and used as a consideration in [the] hiring decision" and that the manager's decision was motivated by the aide's race and not the selectee's experience or seniority. According to the EEOC, the company has relied exclusively on "word-of-mouth recruitment practices" for field laborer positions, with the intent and effect of restricting the recruitment of Black and female applicants. The only black front desk attendant also was terminated, while other non-Black front desk workers were allowed to continue their employment. An analysis of hours and wages showed African-American and Hispanic workers received fewer hours of work than their white co-workers during most of this same timeframe. The company must also report certain complaints of harassment or retaliation to the EEOC for monitoring. In March 2017, the EEOC settled its contempt action against Baby O's Restaurant, dba Danny's Downtown, a Jackson-based provider of adult entertainment services. The settlement also requires Hillshire to designate one employee to serve as a point-of-contact for those who feel they've been treated improperly and to punish workers with suspensions and even termination who are found "by reasonable evidence" to have engaged in racial bias or behavior related to it. The EEOC's suit alleged that qualified African-Americans and Hispanics were routinely denied retail positions such as cashier, sales associate, team leader, supervisor, manager and other positions at many Bass Pro stores nationwide and that managers at Bass Pro stores in the Houston area, in Louisiana, and elsewhere made overtly racially derogatory remarks acknowledging the discriminatory practices, including that hiring Black candidates did not fit the corporate profile. 15-11850 (11th Cir. The five-year consent decree enjoins the sausage company from engaging in future race discrimination, and requires annual Title VII training on employee rights, record-keeping of racial harassment complaints, and annual reports to the EEOC. In January 2012, a Johnson City, N.Y -based cleaning company agreed to pay $450,000 to 15 former employees to settle a hiring discrimination and retaliation case. The EEOC ordered the BOP, among other things, to consider disciplinary action against the supervisor and to pay the job seeker damages. The manager was given a written warning for "shop talk" and "horseplay." consent decree filed 12/18/15). The 5-year decree, which applies to Roadway and YRC, Roadway's identity after it merged with Yellow Transportation, includes $10 million in monetary relief, $8.5 million to be paid upon preliminary approval of the decree and the remainder in three subsequent installments due on or before November 1 of 2011, 2012, and 2013. In September 2010, EEOC filed a racial harassment lawsuit against a cell phone installation and testing company, asserting that the company violated federal anti-discrimination laws when it subjected an African-American employee to severe and repeated harassment. In addition to monetary relief, the company must provide race discrimination training to all employees. Cal. In December 2014, Swissport Fueling, Inc., which fuels aircraft at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, paid $250,000 and furnish other relief to settle a lawsuit for race and national origin harassment filed by the EEOC. Court. Official websites use .gov In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Bahama Breeze managers committed numerous and persistent acts of racial harassment against Black employees, including frequently addressing Black staff with slurs such as "n.r," "Aunt Jemima," "homeboy," "stupid n.r," and "you people." That's you!" In addition to monetary relief, the four-year consent decree required Pioneer Hotel must hire a consultant to help implement policies, procedures and training for all workers to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Despite complaining to management, the African-American employee's compensation remained the same until she resigned. In September 2010, the EEOC filed suit against a Roanoke-based hair salon chain for allegedly firing an African American hair stylist for complaining about an assistant manager's racist comments. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) releases new information on systemic discrimination. In September 2019, a tire, wheels and auto service company, agreed to pay $55,000 and furnish other relief to settle a racial harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC. In June 2015, EEOC filed a lawsuit accusing Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC of not promoting workers at its Calvert plant because of their race. . The Agency was ordered, among other things, to rescind the Letters and remove them from Complainant's personnel record, as well as adjust any subsequent discipline that was based on the Letters. In addition to the monetary relief, the four-year consent decree provides for extensive injunctive relief to help secure a diverse workforce; requires JPPJATT to hire a consultant to review and revise its selection process and implement and train employees in the new process; enjoins JPPJATT from discriminating against Black applicants on the basis of race in the future; and requires the company to hold information sessions at locations in the Black community. Just 4 months after promoting Charging Party, defendant reprimanded him and demoted him. In November 2004, the Commission settled for $50 million a lawsuit filed against Abercrombie & Fitch on behalf of a class of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and women allegedly subjected to discrimination in recruitment, hiring, assignment, promotion and discharge based on race, color, national origin, and sex. During the first month of 2020, EEOC has settled nineteen discrimination lawsuits. ACM also subjected the two charging parties to harassment based on sex, national origin and race, and it retaliated against them for opposing the mistreatment-and against one of them based on her association with Black people-by firing them, the commission alleged. EEOC v. A.C. Widenhouse Inc., No. 3. Cal. Miss. Studies of verdicts have shown that about 10% of wrongful termination cases result in a verdict of $1 million or more. It also will redistribute its anti-harassment policies and procedures and monitor its supervisors' compliance with equal employment opportunity laws. In one instance, the EEOC says a co-worker flaunted a swastika tattoo and talked about keeping the White race "pure." The Commission ordered the retroactive promotion of complainant, back pay, compensatory damages ($5,000), attorney's fees, and other relief. In January 2008, a Lockheed Martin facility in Hawaii settled a Title VII lawsuit for $2.5 million, the largest amount ever obtained by the EEOC for a single person in a race discrimination case. The same manager allegedly referred to one Black employee as "gorilla" while the employee was holding a banana. In August 2014, a Thomasville mattress company agreed to pay a combined $42,000 to two Black former workers to settle an EEOC complaint that alleged they were unlawfully fired. The EEOC alleged that DSW intentionally discriminated against a former assistant manager at the company's Warrensville Heights, Ohio retail store because she is Black when it terminated the assistant manager after she had been subjected to race-based discipline and unequal terms and conditions of employment. In October 2010, defendants, a Spring, Texas, new and used car dealership and its general partner, agreed to pay $160,000 and provide neutral references indicating their eligibility for rehire to a 50-year-old White male used car salesperson (Robinson) and a 50-year-old African American male used car salesperson (Cotton). The 2-year consent decree also enjoins the firm from making hiring decisions based on race and prohibits retaliation. In March 2020, Porous Materials, a manufacturer in Ithaca, NY, must pay $93,000 in monetary relief and report any future harassment allegations directly to the EEOC to settle claims that it engaged in pervasive harassment based on race, sex and national origin, according to a recent EEOC lawsuit. According to the EEOC, the general manager of the Hampton Inn hotel advised her employees that she wanted to get "Mexicans" in who would clean better and complain less than her black housekeeping staff, even if the Hispanic hires were equally or less qualified than Black candidates. In August 2016, a magistrate judge reaffirmed that "African" has long been recognized as an acceptable class entitled to protection under Title VII. In March 2012, a financial services company formerly located in various cities in Michigan agreed to settle for $55,000 an age and race discrimination suit brought by the EEOC. The county further agreed to post notices on the matter on all bulletin boards throughout the county and to permit the disclosure of the settlement. EEOC legal staff resolved 165 merits lawsuits and filed 93 lawsuits alleging discrimination in FY 2020. In its lawsuit, EEOC alleged that Laquila engaged in systemic discrimination against black employees as a class by subjecting them to racial harassment, including referring to them using the N-word, "gorilla," and similar epithets. The Commission also ordered training of responsible officials, consideration of discipline, and the posting of a notice but rejected the AJ's award of $6,903.87 in closing costs for complainant's sale of his house as being too speculative to connect to the discriminatory conduct. In July 2007, the EEOC received a favorable jury verdict in its Title VII lawsuit against the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) alleging that a Black senior manager terminated a White manager because of his race. On appeal, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment and held for the first time held that a tax-offset award was appropriate in a Title VII claim when the lump-sum award place the employee in a higher tax bracket. She was also subjected to unequal terms and conditions of employment. Congress did so by defining "religion" to "include[] all aspects of reli-gious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasona-bly accommodate to an employee's or prospective em- In January 2010, the Sixth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court's decision granting summary judgment to defendant Whirlpool Corporation in a racial hostile work environment case in which the EEOC participated as amicus curiae. The second Black employee testified that, when he was hired in 2005, he was the company's only African American and was told he was the "token black." The clinic also agreed to incorporate a zero-tolerance policy concerning discriminatory harassment and retaliation into its internal EEO and anti-harassment policies. Studies of verdicts have shown that about 10% of wrongful termination cases result in a verdict of $1 million or more. Under the proposed four-year consent decree, the drilling company also will create a new vice president position to be filled by a "qualified EEO professional" who will facilitate, monitor and report on the company's compliance with certain training, management evaluation, minority outreach, and other remedial measures. EEOC v. Danny's Cabaret, No. In March 2009, a manufacturer and distributor of foodservice equipment has offered permanent employment to an African American applicant and furnished other relief to resolve a race discrimination lawsuit alleging that the company refused to hire the Black applicant into a permanent position at its Fayetteville, Tenn., facility because he disclosed a felony conviction on his application - even though the company hired a White applicant a year earlier who made a similar disclosure. The three employees worked in the supply chain department at SFI and allegedly had no performance issues before their discharges. 2:08-CV-840 (S.D. The EEOC states that workers at two of the manufacturer's facilities had "subjected female and African-American employees to sexual and racial harassment.". 131 M Street, NE The display included a dollar bill with a noose around George Washington's neck and drawings of a man on horseback and a hooded figure with "KKK" written on his hood. The proposed consent decree would settle both EEOC's suit and a private suit filed in 2008 by 14 Black employees under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (42 U.S.C. In November 2004, the Commission decided that, although racially charged comments were only made on one day, the nature of the comments, which included several racial slurs, was sufficiently severe to render work environment hostile. Nine Black employees and a White co-worker received payments. He also asked the housekeeping supervisor about her race and, upon learning that she was Black, fired her as well. The term was spray-painted on walls and doors, written in Black marker or spray painted in the locker rooms, equipment, and on a calendar in the break room over Martin Luther King's birthday, etched into bathroom walls in the terminal, and written in dust on dock surfaces, even after the employer held a sensitivity session to explain the term's racial and derogatory implications. Tenn. Sep. 25, 2013). In September 2007, the Commission upheld an AJ's determination that complainant was discriminated against on the bases of race (Asian American), national origin (Japanese), sex (female), and/or in retaliation for prior EEO activity when: (1) she received an unsatisfactory interim performance rating; (2) she was demoted from her GS-14 Section Chief position; and (3) management's actions created and allowed a hostile work environment. The Commission instead found that summary judgment in favor of Complainant was appropriate. In November 2011, a hospital on Chicago's South Side agreed to pay $80,000 to settle a class race, sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC. Ready Mix denies that racial harassment occurred at its worksites.
March 11, 2023