In August 2010, a North Carolina poultry processor entered a two-year consent decree agreeing to pay $40,000 to resolve an EEOC case alleging that the company engaged in unlawful retaliation. Liggins v. Archdiocese of Los Angeles: Pregnancy And Discrimination. Selected Case Lists | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The harassing behavior continued despite numerous complaints by all three employees. In October 2008, a department store chain in Iowa entered a consent decree agreeing to pay $50,000 and to provide other affirmative relief. Additionally, at the conclusion of her final interview, defendant's managing director allegedly told the Black applicant she was "obviously qualified for the position." Ga. In a unanimous published opinion, a three-judge panel said it found no issue with a trial court granting summary judgment to the town of Sneads in John McAlpin's suit claiming retaliation in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the First Amendment and Florida's whistleblower law. Tenn. Sep. 25, 2013). EEOC legal staff resolved 165 merits lawsuits and filed 93 lawsuits alleging discrimination in FY 2020. The court "assume[d] for the sake of argument" that the evidence created a material factual dispute about whether AutoZone intentionally segregated its Black employee Kevin Stuckey because of his race when it transferred him out of a predominantly Hispanic-staffed store. Relief included retroactive promotion, back pay and a tailored order to allow complainant to submit her request for fees incurred solely for the successful prosecution of the appeal. Employers Sued for Rejecting Hearing-Impaired Job Applicants - SHRM The lawsuit alleged that a Black employee was asked if he could read because a lot of you guys cant read, and that a general manager referred to Black employees as monkeys or Africans and many other accusations. Ga. consent decree filed 12/10/12). 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. 0720150030 (Aug. 29, 2017). In addition to the monetary relief, the company agreed to distribute a revised discrimination and complaint policy and hire an employment consultant. The jury also found that one employee was fired in retaliation for complaining about the hostile environment. In contrast, defendant announced the promotion of Charging Party's White successor within three days and issued him a cell telephone and a company e-mail address immediately. The lawsuit also alleged that the companies discouraged non-Hispanic applicants for applying for open positions by imposing a language requirement not required for the job in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In January 2010, an international investment management firm based in Malvern, Pennsylvania settled for $300,000 the EEOC's Title VII lawsuit, alleging that the firm failed to hire an African American female applicant for a financial planning manager position at defendant's Charlotte, North Carolina office because of her race. In April 2007, a Virginia steel contractor settled for $27,500 a Title VII lawsuit, charging that it subjected a biracial (Black/White) employee to harassment based on race and color and then retaliated against him when he complained. The three employees worked in the supply chain department at SFI and allegedly had no performance issues before their discharges. The coworkers also made racially derogatory comments including using the racially offensive term "n----r-rigged," which was witnessed by the employees supervisor who took no action to stop it. EEOC v. Bankers Asset Mgmt. In addition to monetary relief, the company has agreed to provide anti-discrimination training to all of its employees and additional training on harassment and retaliation to all supervisors, managers and owners. 2:11-CV-00920CW (D. Ariz. Jan. 7, 2013). EEOC ordered the agency to determine complainant's entitlement to compensatory damages; train the supervisor with regard to his obligations to eliminate discrimination in the federal workplace; and consider taking disciplinary action against the supervisor. The evidence of record established, however, that the "DAN" comment was unlikely used in complainant's presence as he could not recall who said it and he conceded it was not directed at him. EEOC retaliation,race,and disability discrimination case Here's Why Retaliation Claims Are Easier To Prove In Court Than As has been the case in past months, most of the settlements . The lawsuit also claims that Bass Pro punished employees who opposed the company's unlawful practices, in some instances firing them or forcing them to resign. Miss. The EEOC entered into a pre-suit conciliation agreement. 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 October 2006, EEOC obtained a $30,600 settlement in Title VII suit, alleging that a California-based office equipment supplier had fired an accounts payable specialist because she was African-American and because she had been pregnant, when it told her that after she returned from maternity leave, her assignment was complete and there were no other positions in the accounting department, permanently placed a non-Black, non-pregnant female who she had trained to fill-in during her maternity leave in her former position, and a week later hired a non-Black male to work in another accounting position in the same department. The two-year decree also enjoins Ready Mix from engaging in further racial harassment or retaliation and requires that the company conduct EEO training. The Fourth Circuit also decided that discriminatory discrete acts could support a hostile work environment claim even if it is separately actionable. 27, 2012). 2:11-cv-02844 (W.D. In September 2006, EEOC filed this Title VII lawsuit alleging that a nonprofit organization that provides rehabilitation services for people with disabilities discriminated against four African-American employees because of their race (delayed promotion, unfair discipline, and termination) and retaliated against three of them for complaining about racially disparate working conditions, reduction of working hours, discipline, and termination. According to an EEOC lawsuit filed in September 2011 in a federal court in Pennsylvania, the executives of the cleaning company prohibited a White supervisor from hiring Black employees for a client in Concordsville, PA. The case was reinstated and remanded to the agency for an investigation. 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. EEOC had alleged that the retailer denied employment to Caucasian applicants since early 2007. In March 2004, the EEOC settled a hostile work environment case in which a Caucasian-looking employee, who had a White mother and Black father, was repeatedly subjected to racially offensive comments about Black people after a White coworker learned she was biracial. The EEOC filed a lawsuit seeking relief for the terminated supervisor and Black employees. After EEOC filed its case, Sparx Restaurant closed and was replaced by a Denny's franchise. The lawsuit alleged that a White male store manager ordered all the African American employees to be strip-searched in response to a White cashier's drawer turning up $100 short. The Commission claimed that the agency selected Hispanics regardless of prior experience, place in line or availability. EEOC alleged that a Black employee from West Guinea, Africa was subjected to verbal and physical harassment and then fired when he complained. In September 2010, the EEOC sued an Indianapolis hotel for denying employment to Black housekeeping applicants, offering lower pay and hours to Black housekeeping staff, terminating Black housekeeping staff who complained of the less favorable treatment, and destroying employment records since at least September 2, 2008 because of the hotel's preference for Hispanic workers. 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 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 its complaint, the EEOC claimed that Black employees at the Chicago Ridge facility, which closed in 2009, were subjected to multiple incidents of hangman's nooses and racist graffiti, comments, and cartoons. The jury awarded the former employees $50,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 each in punitive damages. Additionally, Diversified must implement a targeted hiring plan that tracks the number and race of applicants, and reason(s) why they are not hired. They also treated him differently than non-Black employees. The court also enjoined the operators from race discrimination and retaliation in the future. 2:15-cv-00419-JES-CM (M.D. 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. 5:10-cv-01068-R (W.D. In April 2009, a private historically Black college located in Columbia, S.C. agreed to settle a Title VII lawsuit alleging that it discriminated against three White faculty members because of their race when it failed torenew their teaching contracts for the 2005-2006 school year, effectively terminating them. The manager allegedly made continually disparaging comments to the former attorney, saying 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. Similar to discrimination based on race, age, gender, religion, and LGBTQ status, treating people with disabilities differently in the workplace is prohibited under: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In most cases, changes to procedures and policies are required to appease the charging party. EEOC v. Chapman Univ., No. Because trial evidence also showed that AA Foundries lacked effective internal procedures to handle discrimination complaints, it must conduct at least one hour of equal employment opportunity training for all employees within 60 days of the court's Oct. 9 order. The pay and working conditions at Black Diamonds were inferior to those at Danny's, and there was less security there. In June 2015, Pioneer Hotel, Inc. in Laughlin, Nevada agreed to pay $150,000 and furnish other relief to settle a national origin and color discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. According to the EEOC's suit, Titan's highest-level managers subjected its sole Black driver, Michael Brooks, to discriminatory treatment during his employment, including assigning White drivers more favorable routes, requiring Brooks to perform degrading and unsafe work assignments. Under the proposed two-year consent decree, PBM Graphics Inc. would place the settlement funds in escrow for distribution later among non-Hispanic workers identified by EEOC as victims of the alleged national origin discrimination. Additionally, at trial, he also admitted it did not bother him to hear racially derogatory language in the workplace. In May 2006, Orkin, Inc. paid $75,000 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC, alleging that Orkin refused to reinstate a Black former employee to a service manager position at the Memphis location and paid him less when he held the position because of his race. Nine of the ten plaintiffs were Black employees. Supreme Court Rules In Cases Involving Age Discrimination, Traffic In addition, a White employee who opposed this type of race discrimination and complained that managers in the maintenance department were using racial slurs allegedly was fired shortly after the company learned of his complaints. 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. 4:11-cv-00117(JHM)(HBB) (W.D. 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. In July 2017, the largest producer of farmed shellfish in the United States, paid $160,000 and implemented other relief to settle an EEOC lawsuit. Although the assistant complained repeatedly to NYU management and human resources personnel, NYU took months to investigate and then took virtually no action to curb the supervisor's conduct. Kilgore v. Trussville Dev., No. In November 2014, Battaglia Distributing Corporation paid $735,000 to a group of current and former African-American employees.