Complainant alleged he was discriminated against on the bases of race (African-American) and retaliation when he was not selected for an of four vacant Risk Management Specialist positions. For employers, the importance of responding strategically to such charges cannot be understated. These cases illustrate some of the common, novel, systemic and emerging issues in the realm of race and color discrimination. In December 2019, DSW Shoe Warehouse Inc., a nationwide shoe retailer headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, paid $40,000 and furnished equitable relief throughout the stores in its Midwest Great Lakes Region (including Michigan and Ohio) to resolve a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. 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. EEOC v. New Koosharem Corp., No. 11-cv-11296 (E.D. The EEOC said that Area Temps used code words to describe its clients and applicants for discriminatory purposes, such as "chocolate cupcake" for young African American women, "hockey player" for young White males, "figure skater" for White females, "basketball player" for Black males, and "small hands" for women in general. According to the EEOC complaint, two employees at one of the company's North Carolina salons were allegedly fired for opposing what they reasonably believed was an unlawful employment practice. The awarded relief included punitive damages, compensatory damages, back pay, interest and tax-penalty offsets. The consent decree enjoins the company from engaging in racial discrimination. 2:11-cv-01588-LRH-GWF (D. Nev. settlement June 18, 2015). According to the EEOC's suit, Skanska violated federal law by allowing workers to subject a class of Black employees who were working as buck hoist operators to racial harassment, and by firing them for complaining to Skanska about the misconduct. 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. According to the EEOC lawsuit, after a day at the beach with her Caucasian friends, the teen was asked if she would request an application on her friend's behalf since the friend was a little disheveled in appearance. 2887 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y. In this case, the EEOC alleged that a White consultant visited the car dealership three to four times a week and never missed an opportunity to make racially derogatory comments towards the Black sales manager and almost always in the presence of other people. Although all of the alleged events occurred before the chain purchased Longs, the chain has agreed to institute new anti-discrimination staff training procedures. The EEOC filed a lawsuit seeking relief for the terminated supervisor and Black employees. 27, 2012). They also alleged that they were subjected to racial insults and harassment when they complained. Kilgore v. Trussville Dev., No. The EEOC charged that the company, a New York-based real estate management company, allowed Charles Lesine and Marlin Ware to be harassed from late 2007 to November 2011 at Grandeagle Apartments, a residential complex in Greenville, South Carolina, that DHD managed. In September 2012, an Indianapolis hotel agreed to pay $355,000 to settle a job discrimination case with the EEOC. The Commission found that the agency's reasons were not sufficiently clear so that complainant could be given a fair opportunity to rebut such reasons. According to the consent decree, Bass Pro will engage in good faith efforts to increase diversity by reaching out to minority colleges and technical schools, participating in job fairs in communities with large minority populations and post job openings in publications popular among Black and Hispanic communities. The lawsuit alleged that a Swissport manager routinely called the African fuelers "monkeys" in various degrading ways. 1:10-CV-01263 (W.D. The case settled for $75,000 and injunctive relief which included mandatory EEO training for managers, supervisors and employees. The abuse lasted for two months and escalated when the co-worker physically assaulted the Black employee and inflicted serious permanent injuries. Between June and September 2006, three employees resigned from the salon manager position and in filling the salon manager position all three times, the salon selected a succession of three White employees from other salons whose ages ranged from late teens to early 20s even though the Black stylist was more than qualified to fill the position. Specifically, the EEOC's lawsuit alleged that the company's foreman and other Emmert employees repeatedly harassed two employees, one African American and the other Caucasian, while working on the Odd Fellows Hall project in Salt Lake City. The consent decree also requires the owner/manager to attend individual training on EEO issues and the company must report to the EEOC on its compliance with the consent decree. The jury awarded the former employees $50,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 each in punitive damages. 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. Airline Settles EEOC Suit Claiming It Fired Pregnant Worker; March 01, 2023. In May 2005, the EEOC obtained a $500,000 settlement against a nursing facility in Puyallup, Washington for alleged violations of Title VII, which included the all-White care management team preparing a care plan incorporating a White family's request that no "colored girls" work with the resident; tolerating frequent use of racial slurs, including reference to a Black nurse as a "slave;" assigning Black nurses to the night shift, while giving White nurses the more desirable day shifts; assigning Black and White employees to separate lunchtimes and lunchrooms; and twice-denying a Black nurse a promotion a staffing position for which she had several years of experience and was highly qualified. The comments were sometimes accompanied by demeaning physical contact, such as slapping the employee in the head or shoving him, the EEOC said. Tex. The same manager allegedly referred to one Black employee as "gorilla" while the employee was holding a banana. Law360 (February 28, 2023, 8:52 PM EST) -- The U.S. However, the employer did not fire a Caucasian employee who they left two hours early on two different days because he was tired. In April 2019, A&F Fire Protection, Inc., a NY fire sprinkler and standpipe contractor, paid $407,500 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit in which EEOC alleged that Black and Hispanic employees were frequently subjected to racial remarks by managers and coworkers and a supervisor who used gorilla sounds as a ringtone for a Black employee. The Commission claimed that the agency selected Hispanics regardless of prior experience, place in line or availability. In October 2018, Floyd's Equipment Inc., a Sikeston, Mo. The complaint alleged that they complained to the company about racial comments that included the "N-word" made by a White employee between June and August 2012, but the harassment continued. In addition to the damages, the station must post an anti-discrimination notice, publicize an anti-discrimination policy, and provide annual race and sex discrimination training to its employees. Equal . Sep. 21, 2011). In September 2010, the owner of a strip club settled for $95,000 a race discrimination lawsuit, alleging that two African-American doormen were harassed, segregated and provided different terms and conditions of employment because of their race. A Black, non-Hispanic man told the EEOC that the company refused to provide him with a job application after it learned he couldn't speak Spanish. 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. In January 2008, a bakery caf franchise in Florida entered a two-year consent decree that enjoined the company from engaging in racial discrimination or retaliation and required it to pay $101,000 to the claimants. Evidence indicated that the restaurant had a practice of hiring only White people as bartenders. The foreman also told racist jokes in the workplace, and made negative comments about African Americans; including that Sean Bell (shot by the police at a nightclub) deserved to be shot, and threatened that candidate Barack Obama would be shot before the country allowed a Black president. Tex. According to the EEOC's lawsuit, the company coded the preferences of clients who requested White caregivers, and made assignments based on the preferences. EEOC v. KCSR, No. The EEOC's 2012 lawsuit against the union alleged that the union advocated for an unlawful promotional process that had a disparate impact on African-American promotional candidates even after it learned that the EEOC had received charges challenging the citys promotion practices. The lawsuit indicated that the comments occurred almost daily and included things like telling the estimator he was the same color as human feces. A former attorney for the County of Kauai's Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, who is Caucasian, alleged that she was harassed due to her race by a top-level manager. Blanket prohibitions are not in accordance with the agency's policy guidance on the subject, which was reissued on April 25, 2010. Tenn. Feb. 23, 2012). The alleged racial harassment largely involved a serial harasser who continually used racial slurs, including various permutations on "nigger," made references to the Ku Klux Klan openly and on a daily basis, and left a threatening message on a coworker's husband's answering machine. 7:15-CV-00151-F (E.D. 3:12-cv-00214 (E.D. In April 2011, the EEOC found that the transportation department engaged in race and color discrimination when it failed to select the Complainant, the Acting Division Secretary, for the position of Division Secretary. EEOC v. U-Haul Co. Int'l & U-Haul Co. of Tenn., No. The supervisor also frequently mocked the assistant's accented English, deriding it as "gibberish," and expressed hostility toward immigrants generally and Africans specifically. In April 2007, EEOC reached a $900,000 settlement in a lawsuit alleging that a geriatric center subjected 29 Black, Haitian and Jamaican employees to harassing comments because of race and national origin. No. 4. 92-261, 2(7), 86 Stat. EEOC also found that the supervisor violated the anti-retaliation provisions of Title VII when, standing behind the federal employee, he informed all employees that if they wanted to file an EEO complaint, they had to discuss it with him first. March 17, 2008). 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. Pursuant to this settlement, BBI will The settlement provides monetary relief to the class identified by the EEOC and ensures the company will take proactive measures to prevent such discrimination from occurring in the future. See. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. In December 2012, a South Dallas, TX mill agreed to pay $500,000 to a class of 14 Black employees to settle an EEOC race discrimination suit alleging that the mill exposed Black employees to violent, racist graffiti and racial slurs by co-workers, such as "KKK," swastikas, Confederate flags, "white power" and other racist terms, including "die, n----r, die," as well as the display of nooses at an employee workstation. Lastly, the company will provide discrimination and retaliation training of at least 2 hours to supervisors and managers in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. 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." Instead, another employee informed complainant's supervisor about the comment, and the supervisor promptly looked into the matter. EEOC alleged that initially the owner offered the Black employee money and the use of a limousine if the employee agreed not to testify in the discrimination case. Evidence also revealed that A.C. Widenhouse's general manager and the employee's supervisor also regularly made racial comments and used racial slurs, such as asking him if he would be the coon in a "coon hunt" and alerting him that if one of his daughters brought home a Black man, he would kill them both. The EEOC's lawsuit was brought to obtain relief for fuelers who were from various African nations, including Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. ]," telling racially offensive jokes, hiding his safety gloves, placing stink bombs under his workstation, and telling him that the vending machines do not take "crack money.". Under a 30-month consent decree, the company must designate an EEOC-approved individual to conduct independent investigations into future complaints of workplace harassment and determine what, if any, disciplinary and corrective action needs to be taken in response to a harassment complaint. Specifically, the Commission found that the discipline issued was disproportionate and lacked uniformity, and the record showed that other employees were not disciplined for engaging in similar conduct. EEOC v. Taylor Shellfish Company, Inc., 2:16-CV-01517 (W.D. [2] As the Sixth Circuit explained: "A White employee who is discharged because his child is biracial is discriminated against on the basis of his race, even though the root animus for the discrimination is a prejudice against the biracial child" because "the essence of the alleged discrimination . The EEOC's guidance recommends evaluating: the nature and gravity of the offense or conduct; the time that has passed since the conviction and/or completion of the sentence; and the nature of the job sought prior to disqualifying a candidate with such a record. 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. consent decree filed 12/18/15) and Beaty et al v. The Hillshire Brands Co. et al., No. 11-6426 & 11-6427 (6th Cir.) 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. Hubbell won her trial in district court, and a jury awarded $85,600 in front and back . All of those who come forward to ensure the right to a workplace free of discrimination do a service to our nation. 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. After several employees filed racial harassment charges with the EEOC, a noose was displayed in the workplace. 6:12-cv-00051 (S.D. 0720140005 (Dec. 9, 2016). Retaliation claims remain the most common of all discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 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. They alleged a soon-to-be salon manager told them that she did not want African-Americans working in the salon. The court also enjoined the company from discriminating on the basis of race or protected conduct in violation of Title VII. EEOC APPELLATE CASES PENDING: 2012. In reversing the Agency's decision finding no discrimination, the Commission found that the issuances of the disciplinary actions giving rise to these claims was motivated by discriminatory animus based on Complainant's race. The AJ questioned the Director's credibility, finding that there were considerable gaps in the Director's statements. In August 2011, a federal district court entered a default judgment in favor of the EEOC in its lawsuit alleging that a pipeline construction company permitted several African American employees to be subjected to hanging nooses in the workplace even after they complained about the offensive displays. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The EEOC said that when an African American sales manager was allegedly told to report to another store on the far South Side, he was fired for refusing the transfer. The Associate Director emailed the panel chair and Selection Official, asking that the panel interview Selectee as a professional courtesy. The BQ grid results were disregarded and all candidates were rated and ranked based solely on interview scores. 3:09-CV-00537 (D. Nev. Mar. The EEOC's lawsuit charged that the staffing firms had discriminated against four Black temporary employees and a class of Black and non-Hispanic job applicants by failing to place or refer them for employment. The Commission also alleged that the company fired an employee who complained about the harassment. The EEOC's administrative investigation found that African-American drivers were assigned to predominately Black neighborhoods and White drivers to White neighborhoods. 11-5508 (6th Cir. In addition to the monetary relief, the hotel must offer three of those employees their next available housekeeping positions and train any employees involved in the hiring process. Under the agreement, 23 Black employees will receive $650,000. 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. The court then reversed summary judgment and remanded the case for trial. 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. The three-year decree enjoins the company from future discrimination and retaliation on the basis of race or national origin and mandates anti-discrimination and investigation training for all of its employees and supervisors. June 20, 2014). 1-800-669-6820 (TTY)
Shayna P. v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., EEOC Appeal No. In June 2013, the company entered into a consent decree agreeing to pay $50,000 in relief to the Black females who had been subjected to the racial discrimination and retaliation. 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. At summary judgment, the district court denied in part the company's motion, stating that the company ignored both the extreme symbolism of a noose and that a reasonable jury could conclude that the worksite had at least some racial tension given the other nooses, threats, and racial epithets that each African-American employee experienced, and that the noose was intended to intimidate all African-Americans.
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