The company must also report certain complaints of harassment or retaliation to the EEOC for monitoring. The suit claimed that the buyer was given more difficult tasks and less assistance than her colleagues who were not Black and female, was unfairly disciplined for performance scores that were higher than those of her White female co-workers who did not face any disciplinary action, and that the supervisor gave her White co-workers permission for vacation days but ignored the Black buyer's earlier requests for the same days. The use of arrest and conviction records to deny employment can be illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when it is not relevant for the job, because it can limit the employment opportunities of applicants or workers based on their race or ethnicity.". EEOC v. Lawlor Foods, Civil Action No. 103, 103 (1972). In August 2006, the Commission settled this Title VII lawsuit alleging that since at least 1991, defendant, a manufacturer of precision metal-formed products and assemblies, failed to hire women and Blacks into laborer and machine operator positions at its plant because of their sex and race for $940,000. Case Number. The EEOC had alleged that the provider had recruited through media directed at Eastern European immigrants and Hispanics and hired people from those groups over African Americans, and that the provider's use of subjective decisionmaking had a disparate impact on African Americans. The EEOC's administrative investigation found that African-American drivers were assigned to predominately Black neighborhoods and White drivers to White neighborhoods. The consent decree enjoins the company from engaging in racial discrimination or retaliation and requires the company to post the EEO Poster in an area visible to all employees. In November 2010, a company which transports saltwater from oil wells and has facilities in Quitman, Arizona settled for $75,000 the EEOC's lawsuit alleging that it subjected a Black truck driver and another Black employee at its Quitman location to racial harassment, which included racial jokes and racially derogatory language (e.g., "nigger"); gave them fewer work assignments than White employees because of their race; and further reduced the driver's work assignments because of his complaints about racial discrimination and suspended and discharged him because of his race and his complaints about racial discrimination. The salary of the complainant, the only African American account manager in his region, was never increased despite good performance or even when he assumed the accounts of two White employees who left the company. judgment and injunction entered Oct. 9, 2012). In September 2016, SFI of Tennessee LLC agreed to pay $210,000 to settle allegations of race discrimination. 7:13-cv-01583 (D.S.C. In April 2011, the Fourth Circuit vacated in part the district court's judgment and remanded for trial part of the EEOC's racial harassment suit against Xerxes, a fiberglass company. 1-800-669-6820 (TTY)
The agreement also imposes on BMW notice-posting, training, record-keeping, reporting and other requirements. In June 2013, the EEOC and J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. settled a race discrimination charge alleging the nationwide transportation company engaged in unlawful race discrimination by rejecting a Black truck driver applicant because of a prior criminal conviction unrelated to his prospective job duties. Several of the Black plaintiffs also testified about the presence of racial graffiti in the plant bearing similar messages, including "KKK everywhere," "go home sand niggers," and "Jesus suffered, so the niggers must suffer too, or Blacks must suffer, too.". EEOC v. Rugo Stone, LLC, Civil Action No. In June 2011, a district court ruled that the EEOC could proceed with its two Title VII cases alleging race, national origin, and religion discrimination by a meatpacking firm against a class of Black Somali Muslim workers at its facilities in Greeley, Colo., and Grand Island, Neb. The new hiring procedures include implementation of an extensive applicant tracking system that will better enable the EEOC and the company to assess whether the company is meeting the targeted hiring levels. It also must create a policy to prohibit harassment and retaliation and provide training on preventing discrimination, harassment and retaliation. EEOC v. Bass Pro Outdoor World LLC, Case No. In April 2011, a long-term care facility located approximately four miles from Little Rock, Ark agreed to pay $22,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to settle an EEOC retaliation case. Studies of verdicts have shown that about 10% of wrongful termination cases result in a verdict of $1 million or more. The case was tried by Trial Attorneys Leslie Carter and Carrie Vance, along with Supervisory Trial Attorney Justin Mulaire. The Agency failed to inform the Commission what, if any, final disciplinary action was issued against the coworker. In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Dollar General refused on at least three separate occasions to promote a Black employee to a vacant assistant store manager position at its Long Beach, Miss., store because of her race. 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. 19, 2011). 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. The court also entered a three-year injunction, enjoining the defendants from: discharging employees in retaliation for complaints about racially offensive postings in their workplace; failing to adopt policies that explicitly prohibit actions made unlawful under Title VII; failing to adopt an investigative process with regard to discrimination claims; and failing to provide annual training regarding Title VII to Chris Brekken, who owns all interests in the three corporate defendants, and other managers. Both employees reported the racial harassment, but company supervisors and officers failed to address the hostile work environment. EEOC v. Catastrophe Mgmt. The EEOC's lawsuit charged that OfficeMax violated federal law when its store manager retaliated against a sales associate after the associate complained that he had been terminated because he is Hispanic. In April 2010, a Houston-area construction company paid $122,500 and will provide additional remedial relief to resolve a federal lawsuit alleging race, national origin and religious discrimination. 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. EEOC v. Sierra Restroom Solutions, LLC, Civ. The hotel also agreed to conduct antidiscrimination training and implement procedures to investigate discrimination complaints. Inc., Civil Action No. 2:11-cv-01588-LRH-GWF (D. Nev. June 17, 2015). The EEOC had charged that a South Carolina beauty salon violated federal law by refusing to promote a 51-year-old African American stylist. 3:10-cv-00379 (N.D. Fla. Mar. Tenn. consent decree filed Dec. 5, 2014). Mae P. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC Appeal No. The evidence showed that a Black female employee reported escalating offensive verbal conduct and gestures by her White male coworker over a period of two months before he physically assaulted her at the Tennessee-based facility; four levels of Whirlpool's management were aware of the escalating harassment; Whirlpool failed to take effective steps to stop the harassment; and the employee suffered devastating permanent mental injuries that will prevent her from working again as a result of the assault and Whirlpool's failure to protect her. She also asserted that her termination was racially motivated. The consent decree provided $255,000 in monetary relief: $105,000 to Charging Party and $150,000 for a settlement fund for eligible claimants as determined by EEOC. In each incident, the assistant manager made references to African-Americans using the N-word. The harassment by White employees of King-Lar Co. directed at the employee included calling him "Mexican nigger," "wetback" and "nigger slave," the Commission alleged in a lawsuit filed in August 2015. Ga. July 6, 2016). 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. In July 2008, a Chicago-based leading chemical manufacturer of high-quality surfactants, polymers, chemical specialties and cosmetic preservatives paid $175,000 to settle a class race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The EEOC further alleged that, shortly after she complained, she was discharged for supposedly making "false, defamatory, and malicious statements" about a supervisor. The racial harassment included a male shift leader's frequent use of "nigger" and his exhortations that Whites were a superior race. EEOC charged that many of the White employees hired had significantly less experience than the Black former employees represented by the EEOC, and in some cases had actually been trained by the same African American employees who were denied hire. No. 7:14-cv-00136 (M.D. In the lawsuit, EEOC alleged that the company subjected a Native American employee to continuous race-based harassment, which included co-workers calling him derogatory names and making insulting jokes about Native Americans over a period of years and then fired him when he continued to complain about the mistreatment. EEOC v. Area Temps, No. 1:16-cv-05194 (E.D.N.Y. In June 2015, the EEOC filed an amicus brief in support of a pro se plaintiff whose race and age discrimination case was dismissed for failure to establish a prima facie case. Should Maritime reopen and reactivate its Maryland facilities, it shall be enjoined from creating or maintaining a hostile work environment and inferior economic terms and conditions of employment on the basis of national origin or race. In September 2016, Resource Employment Solutions, LLC, a temporary staffing agency, will pay $435,000 to settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC. In October 2007, EEOC obtained $290,000 from an Oklahoma-based oil drilling contractor for seven African American men who alleged that, while on an oil rig, they were subjected to a hostile work environment, which included the display of hangman nooses, derogatory racial language, and race-based name calling. In February 2008, the Commission upheld an AJ's finding of race and color discrimination where a probationary employee was terminated from his position of Part-Time Flexible Letter Carrier. Additionally, Reliable Nissan agreed to review its policies and procedures to ensure that employees have a mechanism for reporting discrimination and to make certain that each complaint will be appropriately investigated. Law360 (February 28, 2023, 8:52 PM EST) -- The U.S. The aggrieved employees alleged that they were restricted to "back of the house" positions such as busboys and runners and refused promotions to "front of the house" positions such as captains, which instead went to Caucasian workers with less experience and seniority. 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. Mar. Other Holmes employees used the term "n----r-rigging" while working there, and racist graffiti was evident both inside and outside portable toilets on the work site. EEOC Accuses Va. Hospital System Of . At the conclusion of the bench trial, the judge entered a final judgment and awarded the employee a total of $1,073,261 in back pay, front pay and compensatory damages on December 21, 2009. filed consent decree 12/15/11). Hubbell won her trial in district court, and a jury awarded $85,600 in front and back . The company is expressly enjoined from "utilizing the criminal background check guidelines" challenged by the EEOC in its lawsuit, the decree states. The managers told him that he should have thought of this [that he might need future assistance from them] before he filed his [previous] EEO complaint. In June 2011, a national women's off-priced clothing retailer agreed to pay $246,500 and furnish other relief to 32 class members to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. 2000e-2(a)(2), Title VII's subsection prohibiting the limiting, classifying, or segregating of employees based on a protected trait. The Agency was ordered, among other things, to offer Complainant the position or a substantially similar position, and pay her appropriate back pay, interest, and benefits. What happens when the EEOC determines that an employer is . Kenny C. v. Dep't of Def., EEOC Appeal No. In December 2010, a company which provides in-home care certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and non-CNAs to seniors in Anne Arundel County and Howard County, Maryland agreed to settle claims alleging that it discriminated based on race in assigning caregivers. EEOC v. Bloom at Belfair, No. June 12, 2012) (granting joint motion to dismiss). In December 2010, Roadway Express, a less-than-truckload motor carrier with terminals throughout North America, settled the claims of two lawsuits alleging racial harassment of Black employees and race discrimination in terms and conditions of employment at two Illinois facilities. In October 2017, Reliable Inc., doing business as Reliable Nissan, agreed to settle charges of discrimination based on race, national origin, and religion, along with retaliation. Although based on a single incident, the noose was a sufficiently severe racial symbol with violent implications that equates to a death threat. According to the lawsuit, Lesine and Ware allegedly were subjected to unwelcome derogatory racial comments and slurs made by a White coworker, including the repeated use of the "n" word. The manager allegedly referred to the Caucasian attorney as haole, and advised the former attorney that she needed to assimilate more into the local culture and break up with her boyfriend at the time, also White, in favor of a local boy. Some recent examples highlight the impact of retaliation case settlements on an organization's bottom line, not to mention . EEOC v. MBM Corp., No. The firm was also ordered to allocate $20million in salary increases for minority employees, $35million in diversity training, and the establishment of an equality task force at . The substantial jury verdict in this case sends a strong message to employers that disability discrimination is unacceptable in our nations workplaces, said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows. Four nurses filed discrimination lawsuits after a Hurley staff member allegedly posted a note with the father's instructions. Complainant was awarded $35,000.00 in non-pecuniary compensatory damages, restoration of annual and sick leave, and $34,505.87 in attorney's fees. The decree provided $355,000 in monetary relief to approximately 75 African-American former housekeeping employees and applicants and required training, notice posting, reinstatement of three former housekeeping employees, a new hiring procedure for housekeeping employees and ordered that the defendants maintain employment-related records. In addition to paying $600,000, the three-year consent decree settling the lawsuit also requires Bankers Asset Management to hold a mandatory, annual three-hour training on race discrimination and retaliation in which its president or another officer participates, among other provisions. The consent decree also requires the restaurant to provide training in equal employment opportunity laws for all of its employees and to appoint an Equal Employment Office Coordinator, who will be responsible for investigating discrimination complaints. According to the lawsuit, the company's regional manager vetoed her hire because he was concerned about a Black customer service representative working with customers and drivers in southeast Missouri. The lawsuit alleged that since November 2012, a White manager harassed the worker of Filipino heritage by directing racial slurs ("non-white m----f----r," "non-white guy," "spic," "n----r," "monkey" and "ape") at him, jabbing him with a finger in the stomach and chest, and once urinating on his leg while he worked under a truck. Although the company denied liability for the harassment, the three-year consent decree enjoins the company from engaging in further retaliation, race discrimination, or racial harassment, including associational bias. Real EEOC Cases. After six years as a line service technician, defendant promoted Charging Party to supervisor. case is very strong against midwifery organizations. 12, 2013). More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. The company also agreed to implement training at all of its plants in a bid to end consolidated suits from the EEOC and former worker Stanley Beaty. 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. .ain't worth s--t." In addition to providing monetary relief, the company agreed to conduct employee training on its anti-harassment policy and make the policy available to all employees. Dec. 10, 2010). Complainant had approximately 30 years experience as an RN, supervisor, assistant director, and manager. The AJ found that a customer continually harassed complainant by, among other actions, referring to complainant as a "worthless Indian, dumb Indian, and stupid." According to the consent decree, "these policies and practices have resulted in a laborer workforce that is almost 100% Hispanic." Further, the AJ was entitled to draw a reasonable inference from the fact that the Selecting Official did not contact Complainant's supervisor despite having contacted the Selectee's most recent supervisor. In a complaint filed in June 2011, EEOC alleged that, from at least May 2007 through June 2008, one Black employee was subjected to derogatory and threatening comments based on his race by his supervisor and co-workers, and that a coworker mechanic displayed a noose and asked him if he wanted to "hang from our family tree." Additionally, he complained about plaintiff's request for a three-month maternity leave and refused to transfer back her job duties when she returned to work. Defendants moved for dismissal arguing (1) Africa is not a nation and so cannot serve as the basis of a national origin claim, (2) EEOC failed to allege any shared cultural or linguistic characteristics between the aggrieved individuals so they could not constitute a protected class; and (3) the EEOC's retaliation claim must be dismissed because EEOC failed to allege protected activity or the Defendants had knowledge of the white supervisor's motivations. The consent decree also includes provisions for equal employment opportunity training, reporting, and posting of anti-discrimination notices. The comments included repeated use of the "N-word." EEOC v. McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants, Inc. and McCormick and Schmick Restaurant Corporation, No. Says; February 28, 2023. According to the lawsuit, three White workers at the Whirlpool plant in LaVergne, Tennessee, witnessed numerous instances of racial hostility and slurs directed at their Black coworkers. EEOC v. Baby O's Restaurant dba Danny's Downtown, Civil Action No. In December 2010, a cosmetic laboratory settled an EEOC lawsuit charging discrimination based on race, color, national origin, and retaliation against a Black employee for $30,000. The judge ruled in EEOC's favor on summary judgment. Official websites use .gov 71 Civ. Testimony in the record showed that the approving official was biased against those of complainant's race, particularly males. EEOC v. MWR Enterprises Inc., II, C.A. "The number of cases filed by the EEOC increased in a respectable climb back to pre-pandemic levels, forecasting a busy year ahead for the Commission and employers in FY . al, No. The EEOC will monitor compliance with the conciliation agreement. Accordingly, the decision held that the Agency failed to take prompt action to meet its affirmative defense. 1:11-cv-915 (E.D. In June 2008, a beauty supply chain agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit in which the EEOC charged that it rescinded a job offer after learning the successful applicant was Black. In June 2010, the EEOC obtained a ruling by the Ninth Circuit that permits the Commission to pursue injunctive relief to stop a coal company mining in the Navajo Nation from discriminating in employment against non-Navajo Indians. EEOC v. Taylor Shellfish Company, Inc., 2:16-CV-01517 (W.D. In June 2007, the company hired a White male for the IT job. 0:13-cv-02570 (D. Minn. Sep. 19, 2014). In July 2007, EEOC sued a steakhouse restaurant chain for permitting its customers to harass a White employee because of her association with persons of a different race. In November 2010, a nationwide provider of engineering and janitorial services to commercial clients entered into a 4-year consent decree paying $90,000 in backpay and compensatory damages to settle the EEOC's claim that it discharged a building services engineer at a mall in Bethesda, Maryland in retaliation for complaining of race and sex discrimination. The EEOC decided there was a pattern of racial discrimination at the company, and ordered Texaco to settle for $115million in cash for about 1500 minority employees. In February 2008, a restaurant agreed to pay $165,000 to resolve a Title VII lawsuit EEOC brought on behalf of a dining manager who was Arab and Moroccan because he and an Arab waiter from Tunisia allegedly had been subjected to customer harassment based on race and national origin and then the manager was fired in retaliation for opposing the harassment. The Commission affirmed the AJ's decision awarding $75,000.00 in non-pecuniary compensatory damages, restoration of sick leave, payment of attorneys fees and other expenses, and the dismantling of "the Box.". Three assessments used by Target disproportionately screened out female and racial minority applicants, and a separate psychological assessment was a pre-employment medical examination that violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the EEOC had charged. In May 2009, the federal district court in Minnesota dismissed the EEOC's lawsuit alleging that a Minneapolis-based company provided contract human resources services to more than 37,000 entities, allegedly disciplined and fired a Ph.D. social worker because of his race (African American) and his complaints about race discrimination. In its complaint, the EEOC charged that the Chicago-area Italian restaurant chain violated federal civil rights laws by refusing to hire African-Americans because of their race. Miss. In September 2007, a federal district court in Arizona granted a motion to dismiss the EEOC's race discrimination case against a northern Arizona hospital. 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 [.]" As part of the consent decree, Gonnella must also provide training to its employees on civility in the workplace and must institute a policy holding managers and supervisors responsible for preventing and stopping harassment in the workplace. 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. In May 2013, the EEOC sued Clarksdale's Stone Pony Pizza, alleging that the pizza place maintains a racially segregated workforce, and that it "hired only whites for front-of-the-house positions such as server, hostess, waitress, and bartender, and hired African-Americans for back-of-the-house positions such as cook and dishwasher." Ultimately, the EEOC filed a lawsuit on Spaeth's behalf in January 2017. EEOC v. Carolina Mattress Guild Inc., No. In August 2007, the Commission settled for $44,000 a lawsuit against a California medical clinic, alleging that a White supervisor used racial code words, such as "reggin" ("nigger" spelled backwards), to debase and intimidate an African American file clerk and then fired her after she complained. The consent decree also includes provisions for equal employment opportunity training, reporting, and posting of anti-discrimination notices. Eventually, the Black employee resigned because he believed he would never be placed in the bartender position. The consent decree also requires Laquila to set up a hotline for employees to report illegal discrimination, provide anti-discrimination training to its managers, adopt revised anti-discrimination policies and employee complaint procedures and report all worker harassment and retaliation complaints to the EEOC for the 42-month duration of the agreement. 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. In the Garcia case, a respiratory therapist reported an incident in which a co-worker sexually harassed her in the break room. The EEOC claimed that former manager who hired her, was suspended and then fired after he refused to comply with the owner's request. Ga. consent decree filed 12/10/12). Inc., No. 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. In April 2011, the EEOC and a Bedford, Ohio, auto dealership reached a $300,000 settlement of a case alleging that the dealership permitted a general manager to harass Black employees and also discriminated against Black sales employees with regard to pay. Association with a disabled person is enough to qualify for protection. The lawsuit also said workers were told not to speak Spanish on break, at least one employee lost his job after complaining about the treatment, and the company failed to correct the problems. EEOC v. for American Casing & Equipment Inc., Civil Action No. In July 2007, the Sixth Circuit agreed in part with EEOC's amicus argument that a district court improperly granted summary judgment against a Black rehabilitation aide because she presented sufficient evidence - whether categorized as "direct" or "circumstantial" - that race was a factor motivating her employer's decision not to promote her. In November 2019, a federal judge approved the settlement of the 2013 EEOC lawsuit challenging the way a discount retailer conducted criminal background checks of job applicants because the process allegedly discriminated against Black workers with criminal histories. While the Agency asserted that the Selecting Official's selection history precluded a finding of discrimination, the Commission stated that selection history is not controlling, and the AJ reasonably relied upon Complainant's prior performance appraisal as an indicator of his performance. The trade union, which is responsible for sheet metal journeypersons in northern New Jersey, allegedly discriminated against black and Hispanic journeypersons over a multi-year period in hiring and job assignments. The EEOC alleged that the supervisor also told Lee he could not enter the building because they were having a Ku Klux Klan meeting and put a statue of a jockey on his desk with a whip in the jockey's hand tied in a noose.