In July 2018, a Miami Beach hotel operator paid $2.5 million to settle an EEOC lawsuit that alleged the company had fired Black Haitian dishwashers who had complained about discrimination and replaced them with mostly light-skinned Hispanic workers. In 2017, almost 49% of all EEOC filings involved workplace retaliation. See Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, Pub. 11-792 (W.D. The Selection Official, however, rejected Complainant, noting she was the second-ranked candidate, and the top-ranked candidate, also an African-American, and directed the panel to re-interview the candidates. In April 2008, a national video store entered a consent decree to pay $80,000 and to provide neutral references for the claimant in resolution of the EEOC's Title VII lawsuit against it. After consultation among the friends, another White friend entered the store and was immediately given an application on request. In December 2014, two Memphis-based affiliates of Select Staffing, employment companies doing business in Tennessee, agreed to pay $580,000 to settle allegations they engaged in race and national origin discrimination. Of these, employees lost at least half of all cases. US Foods did not terminate the Caucasian driver for being under the influence, or another Caucasian safety specialist who saw the driver at the first stop on his route. 2:09-cv-00923 (M.D. 4:11-cv-03425 (S.D. When they, as well as a former medical director, sought redress of the wage difference and filed discrimination charges with the EEOC, EEOC alleged that the hospital retaliated against them with threats of termination and threats of adverse changes to the terms and conditions of their employment. According to the EEOC's lawsuit, the companys employees and warehouse manager verbally harassed an African American employee based on his race by calling him racial slurs and making offensive comments about Black people in his presence. 12-cv-214 (W.D. Cal. 15-11850 (11th Cir. In June 2006, a Newark port facility paid $28,500 to settle a race and age discrimination lawsuit brought by EEOC, which alleged that the facility's new manager mistreated and then fired a 56-year-old African American customer service representative, who was the only Black and oldest of seven employees, because of her race and age.
Pioneer entered into a four-year consent decree that prohibits Pioneer from creating, facilitating or permitting a hostile work environment for employees who are Latino or darker-skinned. In November 2017, the EEOC reversed the Department of Homeland Security's (Agency) finding of no race discrimination on the Complainant's allegation that the Agency discriminated against him based on race when it issued him Letters of Counseling for unprofessional conduct and missing a duty call. According to the EEOC's lawsuit, the company coded the preferences of clients who requested White caregivers, and made assignments based on the preferences. The jury also found that one employee was fired in retaliation for complaining about the hostile environment. Defense Commissary: 0.97 percent. The 2-year consent decree enjoins sex and race harassment and discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII and age discrimination under the ADEA. Ill. consent decree filed 3/29/17). and "redskins." Neither the White coworker nor the supervisors who witnessed the racial incidents were disciplined. Examples of the harassing conduct included persistent coded references to black employees as "you people," as well as offensive statements such as, "Black people are lazy," and "I better watch my wallet around you." The trainee stressed by the harassment and retaliation after reporting the harassment to upper management, took leaves from work and was eventually fired. Here are the five agencies with more than 1,000 employees with the highest complaint rates in fiscal 2012: Government Printing Office: 1.22 percent. In April 2016, Lawler Foods, a large local bakery, agreed to settle for $1 million an EEOC race and national origin discrimination class case. For employers, the importance of responding strategically to such charges cannot be understated. The AJ questioned the Director's credibility, finding that there were considerable gaps in the Director's statements. The EEOC filed its lawsuit (EEOC v. Walmart Stores East LP, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Case No. Notice of consent decree will be visibly posted at the hotel. In addition to the monetary relief, the company agreed to providing EEO training for its managers and supervisors the company and to submit a follow-up report on remedial measures being taken at the Concordville worksite. Egg Producer Allowed Supervisor to Sexually Harass Female Employee, Then Retaliated Against Her When She . In November 2019, On The Border Acquisitions, LLC, doing business as On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina (OTB), paid $100,000 and provided other relief to settle an EEOC race harassment lawsuit. Abercrombie & Fitch also agreed to improve hiring, recruitment, training, and promotions policies; revise marketing material; and select a Vice President of Diversity and diversity recruiters. The agency stated that the selectees were chosen because their skills and qualifications fit the agency's needs. 15-cv-02901 (D. Minn. consent decree filed Mar. The company must also report certain complaints of harassment or retaliation to the EEOC for monitoring. In June 2007, the Commission affirmed its decision that complainant, a 48-year old Black male Supervisory Deputy with the U.S. EEOC recovered just over $106 million for charging parties and other aggrieved individuals through litigation, representing the largest recovery through the EEOC's litigation program in the past 16 years. 2012). filed Sep. 29, 2012). In the lawsuit, EEOC alleged that the harassment of African American employees included multiple displays of nooses, the repeated use of the "N-word," and physical threats. The record, however, showed that Complainant specifically listed relevant experience in all areas identified by the Selecting Official, and that the Selectee's application failed to establish relevant experience in two areas. Pursuant to a three-year consent decree, the university also will improve and implement university-wide enhanced policies and complaint procedures; designate an EEO coordinator to monitor NYU's compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws; conduct in-person, comprehensive EEO training sessions for employees, supervisors, and HR staff; and maintain records of its responses to future employee complaints of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. In addition, the EEOC asserted that Latino / brown-skinned workers were told not to speak Spanish during their break times. 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. Female employees were subjected to offensive sexual comments and touching by managers and coworkers; Black employees to racially derogatory language, and directives to wait on customers that White employees refused to serve and to work in the smoking section; and a White employee to racially offensive language because of her association with a Black employee. Further, the AJ noted that the selection criteria was changed for one candidate who did not meet the requirements but not for Complainant. In April 2012, Bankers Asset Management Inc. agreed to pay $600,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit alleging that the real estate company excluded Black applicants from jobs at the company's Little Rock location based on their race. The lawsuit asserts that, after the warehouse worker spoke to management about race discrimination because a non-Hispanic co-worker received a larger raise, he was told that if he was going to accuse the company of discrimination, they "should part ways." After one of the women complained, her hours were cut and she was eventually terminated. The four-year consent decree also requires Defendant MWR Enterprises Inc., II, to establish a written policy which provides that all job assignments will be made without consideration to gender; establish guidelines and procedures for processing employment applications; provide Title VII training on race and gender discrimination to its managers; meet recordkeeping and reporting requirements; and post a notice about the lawsuit and settlement at its store locations. John Linehan contested his removal as chief deputy coroner by the elected coroner, who is African American. 3:12-cv-3069(LTS) (N.D. Iowa consent decree granted June 24, 2013). Be realistic. They also alleged that they were subjected to racial insults and harassment when they complained. EEOC v. PBM Graphics Inc., No. Fla. Jan. 27, 2017). A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The racial harassment included the supervisor calling him "little Asian" and "Chow" based on the Asian character in the movie "Hangover." 2, 2017). 2000e-2(a)(2), Title VII's subsection prohibiting the limiting, classifying, or segregating of employees based on a protected trait. 10-CV-7399 (S.D.N.Y. Brooks was also subjected to harassment such as racial slurs and racially derogatory insults, taunting and racial stereotypes, including the use of the "N-word." The EEOC filed a lawsuit seeking relief for the terminated supervisor and Black employees. In September 2014, McCormick & Schmick's settled a 2008 EEOC lawsuit, alleging a pattern or practice of race discrimination against African-American job applicants by refusing to hire them for front-of-the-house positions and by denying equal work assignments because of their race. In May 2008, the EEOC obtained a settlement of $1.65 million in a racial harassment case filed against a general contractor and its subsidiaries on behalf of a class of African American employees who were subjected to egregious racial harassment at a construction site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. During a four-day bench trial, the court heard evidence that the employee repeatedly reported offensive verbal conduct and gestures by the co-worker to Whirlpool management before she was violently assaulted, without any corrective action by the company. In June 2011, a leading provider of advanced office technology and innovative document imaging products, services and software agreed to pay $125,000 and to provide substantial affirmative relief to settle a Title VII case alleging race, national origin, and retaliation claims. 22, 2012). According to evidence in the record, management denied the SOS the opportunity to the attend trainings necessary for promotion into a Security Officer Locksmith (SOL), citing budgetary reasons. 1:13-cv-20684(JEM) (S.D. In most cases, changes to procedures and policies are required to appease the charging party. 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. Specifically, the EEOC alleged that, in addition to paying them less and permitting a White manager to refer regularly to them with the N-word and other derogatory slurs, such as "boy," the company manipulated dosimeters of Black employees assigned to work with radioactive waste to show lower levels of radiation than the actual ones. The employee ultimately was fired after he complained to the company's safety manager about the harassment. In October 2018, Floyd's Equipment Inc., a Sikeston, Mo. Corey Bussey, Justin Jones and Christopher Evans worked in the meat department at GNT Foods. The three-year consent decree resolving the litigation contains significant injunctive relief requiring Bahama Breeze to update its EEO policies nationwide, provide anti-discrimination and diversity training to its managers and employees, and provide written reports regarding discrimination complaints. EEOC had alleged that the company segregated the Black employees from non-Black employees and illegally fired a class of Black employees in violation of Title VII. The class of Black employees worked for C-1, Inc. Construction Company, a minority-owned subcontractor for Skanska. Defendant investigated the racial incidents, but failed to interview two Black employee witnesses and fired the clerk in part for the hood and cross comment he made. 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. The company also must submit reports to the EEOC on its compliance with the consent decree. In its original complaint, EEOC alleged that since at least 2003, management officials and employees at Scully Distribution referred to Black drivers as "niggers," East Indian drivers as "Taliban" and "camel jockeys," and a Latino manager as a "spic." The settlement agreement resolves an EEOC commissioner's charge filed against the company. Find your nearest EEOC office
The lawsuit further charged that the company suspended and then fired all three employees for complaining about the harassment. Sep. 21, 2010). In November 2007, a high-end suburban Illinois retirement facility agreed to pay $125,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit alleging that it terminated its director of nursing, because of her national origin (Filipino) and race (Asian). The consent decree further requires it to maintain a complaint procedure to encourage employees to file internal good faith complaints regarding race discrimination and retaliation. Over an even longer periodfrom January 2009 through July 2017Lex Machina found that of 54,810 cases that were filed and closed, employees bringing the suits won just 584 times in trial, or . Because the employee feared for his safety, he resigned. Further, to demonstrate its strong and clear commitment to a workplace free of race and national origin discrimination, the agency agreed that if it advertises, it will devote a portion of its advertising budget to placing ads in diverse media outlets. The EEOCs Chicago District Office is responsible for processing charges of employment discrimination, administrative enforcement and the conduct of agency litigation in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota, with Area Offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis. She did so and purportedly was later told by the recruiter that Alliant wanted to hire her and that she would be contacted by the company's Human Resources Department. The judge also faulted Noble and New Indianapolis Hotels for comingling of medical records in employee personnel files. In May 2008, the Sixth Circuit ruled that two Black male dockworkers had been subjected to a racially hostile work environment in violation of Title VII. EEOC v. Taylor Shellfish Company, Inc., 2:16-CV-01517 (W.D. The EEOC claimed that former manager who hired her, was suspended and then fired after he refused to comply with the owner's request. EEOC v. BMW Mfg. The Commission also alleged that the company fired an employee who complained about the harassment. Additionally, the EEOC alleged that an African-American telemarketer was paid less than a Caucasian telemarketer in a substantially similar job. 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. In December 2012, an office and technology supply store paid $85,000 and target recruitment of African-Americans and Hispanics to settle a retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The jury found that the retailer failed to accommodate Marlo Spaeth, a longtime employee with Down syndrome, and then fired her in July . In December 2012, EEOC and a North Carolina printing firm settled for $334,000 a lawsuit alleging the firm violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by not placing non-Hispanic workers in its "core group" of regular temporary workers who perform the company's light bindery production jobs and giving disproportionately more work hours to Hispanic workers. In November 2015, the judge awarded $50,515 in fees and $6,733.76 in costs to the EEOC because the "Defendants willfully violated the explicit terms of the Consent Decree and repeatedly failed to comply with it [.]" In June 2017, the EEOC reversed the Administrative Judge's finding of no discrimination by summary judgment, which the Department of Homeland Security (Agency) adopted, regarding Complainant's claim that the Agency discriminated against her, an African American woman, when it failed to select her for a promotion. In the second lawsuit, the EEOC said that Bay Country subjected a concrete finisher, who is male and African American, to racial and sexual harassment by a foreman and co-workers. EEOC had alleged that for the past eight years the restaurant engaged in racial and sexual harassment. According to the lawsuit, the alleged victim applied and was interviewed several times for the job in May 2007. In March 2007, the owners of a Louisiana motel agreed to pay $140,000 to charging party and three other claimants who alleged that the motel would not hire them for front-desk positions because they are African American. After being subjected to racial slurs and witnessing a supervisor display a noose with a black stuffed animal hanging from it, the employee complained. In addition to the monetary relief, a three-year consent decree requires the company to use its best efforts to fill up to 25 percent of available positions with African-Americans. The plant where the discrimination occurred had closed during the litigation period. The AJ also found that the Selecting Official's testimony about the Selectee's qualifications was not credible and was not supported by the documentation in the record. The EEOC's suit had charged that the company unlawfully engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against American workers by firing virtually all American workers while retaining workers from Mexico during the 2009, 2010 and 2011 growing seasons. Several individuals complained to management, but their complaints were minimized or ignored, the complaint alleged. According to the EEOC's lawsuit, from February 2017 to at least July 2018, Treatment Centers subjected a Substance Abuse Counselor Allen Parson and two other African American employees were repeatedly and openly subjected to racial slurs by several clients of the facility and race-based counselor assignments to accommodate White clients' racial preferences not to be assigned to Black counselors. In addition to paying $40,000 in monetary relief, the company must abide by the terms of a two-year consent decree resolving the case. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today. No. The company conducted an internal investigation, trained its employees, and terminated the company official to address the claims filed against it. Blanket prohibitions are not in accordance with the agency's policy guidance on the subject, which was reissued on April 25, 2010. EEOC v. King-Lar Co., No. In each incident, the assistant manager made references to African-Americans using the N-word. EEOC v. JL Schwieters Construction, Inc., Civil Action No. Two witnesses testified that they heard someone remark "one down and two to go" when complainant turned in his equipment following his termination. 4:11-cv-03425 (S.D. In July 2014, the apprenticeship school affiliated with a New Jersey construction trade union will pay $34,500 and provide substantial remedial relief to settle a discrimination claim by the EEOC, alleging that the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee of Sheet Metal Workers Local 25 discharged a Black apprentice because of his race just two weeks before he was to graduate from the four-year apprenticeship program. The EEOC also found that the company retaliated against employees who complained about the harassment or discrimination. According to the EEOC's lawsuit, another African-American employee complained to a high-level executive at the company, but, again, no action was taken to stop or prevent the harassment. 1981, and various state law provisions. The agreement included some novel relief, such as: implementation of a new applicant tracking system; establishing an advisory committee focused on the recruitment, development and retention of minority groups; hiring of recruitment firms; developing new interview protocol training; establishing a mentoring program for recently hired minority employees; and updating job descriptions for all college manager positions to require as a job component the diversity of its workforce.