eeoc discrimination cases won

In March 2011, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court against a major auto parts chain because it had permitted an African American female customer service representative (rep) to be sexually harassed by her Hispanic store manager. The only black front desk attendant also was terminated, while other non-Black front desk workers were allowed to continue their employment. The decree also requires the company to establish and enforce a written policy that will ensure that employees are protected from discrimination. The EEOC also had found that the company retaliated against the employee who brought the initial complaint by firing him after he reported the unlawful treatment. 0120141506 (June 2, 2017). Some of the logistics employees had been employed at BMW for several years, working for the various logistics services providers utilized by BMW since the opening of the plant in 1994. EEOC asserted that the supervisor also allegedly told her that she really should be working in Harlem with her dark skin color and threatened to terminate her if she did not accept a demotion and a transfer to the Harlem store. 11-792 (W.D. The laboratory hired the employee, a British subject born in Zimbabwe, for a full-time internship. 1-800-669-6820 (TTY) 15-cv-01597-MSK-CBS (D. Colo. Aug. 19, 2016). The two employees complained to management but the harassment allegedly continued. EEOC v. Carolina Mattress Guild Inc., No. The Commission said certain Black workers were highly qualified to become Team Leaders, but the company hired White applicants who were less qualified for the job. 7:15-CV-00151-F (E.D. In March 2020, G.N.T, Inc., doing business as GNT Foods, a grocery store located in East Point, Ga., paid $60,000 and furnished other relief to settle a racial harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC. In March 2012, a Fairfax County, Va.-based stone contracting company agreed to pay $40,000 and furnish other significant relief to settle an EEOC lawsuit alleging national origin, religion and color discrimination. In addition to the monetary relief, the consent decree settling the suit enjoins the company from terminating employees in its El Dorado central location's Inorganic Bromine Unit on the basis of race. 09-5330 (E.D.N.Y. In March 2014, Titan Waste Services, Inc., a Milton, Fla., waste disposal and recycling company, was ordered to pay $228,603 for violating federal law by harassing and then firing a truck driver because of his race. 5. In April 2015, a federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a claim of racial discrimination in hiring against Rosebud Restaurants, the U.S. Complainant had filed a formal EEO complaint alleging he was subjected to discriminatory harassment while in Iraq on the basis of his race (African-American) when, among other things, the word "DAN" was used by a coworker, which he learned meant "Dumb Ass Nigger," and management took no action. Additionally, the lawsuit charged that Hamilton Growers provided lesser job opportunities to American workers by assigning them to pick vegetables in fields which had already been picked by foreign workers, which resulted in Americans earning less pay than their Mexican counterparts. According to the EEOC's suit, the supervisor of the mailroom in NYU's Elmer Holmes Bobst Library regularly subjected his assistant, who is a native of Ghana, to slurs such as "monkey" and "gorilla," and made comments such as "go back to your cage," "go back to the jungle," and "do you want a banana?" 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. Under the consent decree, the principal of the company must attend an eight-hour training session on equal employment opportunity laws. 2:10-cv-02717 (W.D. The two employees then told an African-American candidate for an open position at the salon they believed the manager would not hire her due to her race. Employees of these racial groups on company rigs regularly heard racist terms and demeaning remarks about green cards and deportation, the EEOC complaint said. The racial hostility manifested as racist graffiti, racial epithets, and the hanging of a noose at a Salt Lake City rail yard. The harassment was both physical and verbal and included offensive comments based on race and national origin such as "nigger" and "African bastard" as well as explicit sexual expressions. Under the terms of the consent decree, if the company resumes operations, it will have to implement an anti-discrimination policy and report to the EEOC all discrimination complaints and information regarding its hiring practices during the term of the decree. EEOC complaints do not necessarily have to result in court cases. The complaint alleged that since at least January, 2012, Diversified engaged in an ongoing pattern or practice of race discrimination against African-American job applicants in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia metropolitan areas by refusing to hire Black applicants for custodian, lead custodian or porter positions and racially harassing a Black janitorial supervisor in the presence of customers and employees. Tex. 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. In addition to paying $6 million, the company agreed to hire a criminologist to develop a new background check process that accounts for job applicants actual risk of recidivism. In September 2012, the judge entered a five-year consent decree resolving the EEOC's litigation against the hotel operators. The company also must revise its anti-discrimination policy; provide employee training on the revised policy; and develop a procedure for investigating complaints of race discrimination and harassment and evaluating supervisors' compliance with the revised anti-discrimination policy. The settlement this month between the U.S. The EEOC's findings arose from its investigation of the apprentice's appeal of his dismissal, which he filed with the court-appointed special master who monitors Local 25 and its JATC pursuant to past judicial findings of race and national origin discrimination. The case settled for $75,000 and a raise in her annual salary. 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. 2:11-cv-01588-LRH-GWF (D. Nev. June 17, 2015). 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 . Ohio Aug. 5, 2011). The harassment included the White coworkers calling the Black employee racial slurs such as "spook," "spade" and "Buckwheat." The supervisor was the father of the company's president and he insisted that the "n-word" is Latin for "Black person." Mich. Mar. EEOC also can proceed with efforts to secure an injunction against future enforcement of the Navajo hiring preference, the court added. Additionally, every six months for the next 42 months, Bass Pro is to report to the EEOC its hiring rates on a store-by-store basis. The court also enjoined the company from discriminating on the basis of race or protected conduct in violation of Title VII. The EEOC claims that the company wanted to broaden the number of Hispanics at the store to better reflect its customer base. the court rejected that argument, concluding that the EEOC's "allegations of intentional discrimination are sufficient to state a claim for Title VII relief . EEOC v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., No. According to the suit, supervisors and employees subjected an African American truck washer, the only black employee at the Milton facility for most of his employment, to racial epithets and insults despite the truck washer's complaints to management and then the company fired him on the same day that he complained. Frequently Asked Questions, Commissioner Charges and Directed Investigations, Office of Civil Rights, Diversity and Inclusion, Management Directives & Federal Sector Guidance, Federal Sector Alternative Dispute Resolution, Jury Awards Over $125 Million in EEOC Disability Discrimination Case Against Walmart. The Commission also alleged that the company fired an employee who complained about the harassment. 0720100034 (Apr. The decision awarded complainant a retroactive promotion with back pay, $150,000 in compensatory damages and attorneys fees and costs. Neither the White coworker nor the supervisors who witnessed the racial incidents were disciplined. Additionally, the lawsuit charged that Hamilton Growers provided lesser job opportunities to American workers by assigning them to pick vegetables in fields which had already been picked by foreign workers, which resulted in Americans earning less pay than their Mexican counterparts. EEOC v. Atsalis Bros. Painting Co., Civil Action No. 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 3-year consent decree enjoins defendant's Golden, Colorado facility from discriminating on the basis of race and from retaliation. Under a two-year consent decree, Mercury Air Centers Inc. agreed to pay the settlement amount to at least seven employees who were allegedly subjected to "a barrage of harassing comments" by a Salvadoran co-worker at Bob Hope Airport. In January 2015, Carolina Metal Finishing, LLC, a Bishopville, S.C. based metal finishing company, paid $40,000 and furnished significant remedial relief to settle a race harassment lawsuit filed by the EEOC. According to the EEOC's suit, a Black maintenance mechanic at the Taylor Shellfish's Samish Bay Farm faced repeated demeaning comments about his race, including the use of the "N word," "spook" and "boy." Sears allegedly retaliated against Johnson for her initial EEOC discrimination charge in September 2007 by subjecting her to worsening terms and conditions at work. 2015). The racial harassment included a male shift leader's frequent use of "nigger" and his exhortations that Whites were a superior race. Under the two-year consent decree, the businesses will revise their anti-racial harassment policies; create an 800-hotline number for employees to report complaints about discrimination, harassment and retaliation; and conduct exit interviews of employees who leave the company. 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. For example, "circle dots" referred to the clients that preferred Caucasian caregivers. 4th Circ. Won't Rethink Ruling Backing NC Farm Labor Law 0520170446 (Nov. 3, 2017). A long time ago Blacks were doing this for free"; "At one time, you people would not be paid"; and "Blacks work for free." EEOC v. PBM Graphics Inc., No. No. Target also violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by failing to maintain the records sufficient to gauge the impact of its hiring procedures. Employers paid more than $439 million to resolve U.S. Spaeth had worked for the company for approximately 16 years and had consistently received positive performance evaluations from her managers, according to evidence presented at 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. In December 2012, an agricultural farm in Norman Park, Ga., has agreed to pay $500,000 to a class of American seasonal workers - many of them African-American - who, the EEOC alleged, were subjected to discrimination based on their national origin and/or race. The Magistrate Judge recommended that the motion be denied in total. The law on disability discrimination is clear and unequivocalit is illegal to discriminate against anyone at work due to their disability. The EEOC alleged in a December 2017 complaint that the rent-to-own furniture chain subjected Black employees at a Queens, N.Y., warehouse to racist name-calling by two managers. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. 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. Under the agreement, 23 Black employees will receive $650,000. The court said the undisputed evidence also indicated that human resources manager told the company's employees during a safety meeting not to "nigger rig their jobs"; that company management was aware the worksite's portable toilets were covered with racist graffiti; and that other White supervisors and employees routinely used racial epithets, including an incident where a White supervisor commented regarding rap music being played in a van transporting employees to the worksite, "I'm not listening to this nigger jig." EEOC v. Bankers Asset Management, Inc., No. 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. 3:09-CV-00537 (D. Nev. Mar. In December 2016, a south Alabama steel manufacturing plant agreed to pay $150,000 as part of a three-year consent decree to resolve an EEOC lawsuit. The supplier promoted complainant, but did not increase his base salary. According to the EEOC's suit, Hospman fired several Black employees in August 2012 after taking over management responsibility of a Fort Myers hotel. Ready Mix paid a total of $400,000 in compensatory damages to be apportioned among the seven class members to settle an EEOC lawsuit. The Court cautioned: "KCSR is no stranger to Title VII employment discrimination litigation, and it would behoove KCSR to discharge its burden with greater acuity." In September 2013, a Kentucky coal mining company paid $245,000 to 19 total applicants and amend its hiring practices to settle a racial discrimination suit brought by the EEOC. The AJ sanctioned the agency for failing to timely investigate the complaint. The 39-month consent decree requires defendant to consider all female and Black applicants on the same basis as all other applicants, to engage in good faith efforts to increase recruitment of female and Black applicants, and to submit semiannual reports to EEOC that include applicant flow and hiring data by race and sex. Tenn. Sep. 12, 2012). Secure .gov websites use HTTPS 2:15-cv-03812-AB (E.D. The supervisor continued to hire qualified Black workers, and later was fired for defying her managers' instructions. 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. The verdicts included $1.5 million in punitive damages $1.68 million in compensatory damages, and $130,550 in backpay. 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. & New Mercer Commons, Civ. The Black employee allegedly complained to company management, but the harassment continued. Tex. Tenn. Aug. 11, 2011). In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that the food distributor violated federal law by firing an African-American employee who worked at its Memphis facility because of his race. In March 2007, EEOC upheld an AJ's finding that complainant was subjected to a hostile work environment on the bases of her race (African American) and sex (female) when management: yelled at complainant; refused to communicate with her on work matters; failed to assist her; interfered with her work; removed her space leasing duties and responsibilities which fundamentally changed the nature of her position; and engaged in an effort to get her off the leasing team. In September 2014, the EEOC appealed the dismissal of its race discrimination complaints alleging that an employer's withdrawal of a job offer from a qualified Black applicant because she refused to cut off her dreadlocks constituted race discrimination under Title VII. 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 jury also found that one employee was fired in retaliation for complaining about the hostile environment. The company also must submit reports to the EEOC on its compliance with the consent decree. 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. 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. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Seasons 52 restaurant chain indicates that the more familiar pattern-or-practice of age discrimination . Miss. 21-1499. Ark.Apr. In January 2008, a Charlotte, N.C supermarket chain paid $40,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit alleging that the supermarket fired or forced long-term Caucasian and African American employees to resign and replaced them with Hispanic workers after it took over a particular facility.the case. In addition to the monetary relief, the three-year consent decree requires the company to provide mandatory annual three-hour training on race discrimination and retaliation under Title VII; have its president or another officer appear at the training to address the company's non-discrimination policy and the consequences for discriminating in the workplace; maintain records of race discrimination and retaliation complaints; and provide annual reports to the EEOC. The suit further alleged that within a few months after the Black female buyer complained to human resources department about the differential treatment, she was discharged from her position. 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. Many cases have somewhere between a 20% and 80% chance of winning. 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. In May 2011, an IT service company entered a consent decree to pay $60,000 to an African-American employee who had allegedly been subjected to race discrimination and retaliation. In April 2013, a Utah construction company paid three former employees $230,000 and improved its future employment practices to settle an EEOC race harassment and retaliation lawsuit. In November 2017, after an extensive five-year, complicated systemic investigation and settlement efforts, the EEOC reached an agreement with Lone Star Community College covering recruitment, hiring and mentoring of African-American and Hispanic applicants and employees. This resolution settles claims that the company subjected a class of Black employees to a hostile work environment that included racist graffiti and comments, that included the N-word and "boy." The company agreed to pay $45,000 to the biracial employee, to create a policy on racial harassment, and to train the owner, managers and employees about how to prevent and address race discrimination in the workplace. EEOC had alleged that the hospital, which served parts of the Navaho Nation, paid its non-White doctors thousands of dollars less than a White American physician who performed the same work. 10, 2014). Additionally, the employees allegedly told the Black electrician it would have been better if the South had won the Civil War and talked regularly about lynching and slavery. 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. Agreeing with the position taken by the EEOC as amicus curiae, the court of appeals held that nearly all of the racially hostile acts alleged by the plaintiff could be considered as a single hostile work environment under National Railroad Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101 (2002), and that the plaintiff could obtain relief for the entire period of the hostile work environment at issue notwithstanding the fact that he failed to file suit after receiving a notice of right to sue on an earlier Title VII charge challenging the racial harassment. 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. In June 2016, the EEOC obtained a $350,000 settlement in its race discrimination lawsuit against defendant FAPS, Inc., a company located at Port Newark, N.J., involved in the processing for final sale of shipped automobiles. 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. 4:14-cv-03588 (Apr. The EEOC claimed that former manager who hired her, was suspended and then fired after he refused to comply with the owner's request. In October 2018, MPW Industrial Services, Inc., a Hebron, Ohio industrial cleaning company, paid $170,0000 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by EEOC. Over the years, the EEOC has investigated numerous job discrimination complaints brought by young workers. June 15, 2016). March 17, 2008). 1:11-cv-09682 (S.D.N.Y. According to the EEOC, evidence at trial indicated that a White supervisor used "the N word" in reference to Black employees, called male Black employees "motherfucking boys," posted racially tinged materials in an employee break room, and accused Black employees of "always stealing and wanting welfare." In February 2019, the Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters, Local 122, IAFF agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle a race discrimination lawsuit. 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. The employees complained to several supervisors and the Human Resources Department, and the offending employees were occasionally warned, but the hostile environment continued. Nine Black employees and a White co-worker received payments. In December 2016, Crothall Services Group, Inc., a nationwide provider of janitorial and facilities management services, settled an EEOC lawsuit by adopting significant changes to its record-keeping practices related to the use of criminal background checks. 1:11-cv-04741 (E.D.N.Y. 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. [] From 1996 to 2007, an African-American female reporter was paid lower wages than a comparable White female reporter and male reporters of all races. 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. The 6th . The two-year consent decree requires the company to strengthen its discrimination complaint procedure and develop and implement investigation procedures. EEOC claimed that Yellow and YRC also subjected Black employees to harsher discipline and closer scrutiny than their White counterparts and gave Black employees more difficult and time-consuming work assignments. In March 2011, EEOC filed a lawsuit alleging that a provider of preventive maintenance for residential and commercial heating and air conditioning systems, which has approximately 247 employees at 13 locations within Florida, Georgia, the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia and Maryland, violated federal law by discriminating against non-Caucasian employees based on their race when it paid them less than their Caucasian colleagues. The consent decree also requires the pizzeria to keep records on information relevant to whether unlawful practices have been committed and its hiring data, and to submit reports to the EEOC on this information. Under the decree, the supplier will provide web-based training to all employees at its Baton Rouge and Harahan, Louisiana offices on Title VII and defendant's antidiscrimination policies and complaint reporting procedures. In May 2006, EEOC settled a hostile work environment case against a retail furniture store chain for $275,000. 1981), which were consolidated for purposes of settlement. In pertinent part, the EEOC alleged that Black employees at AFP were subjected to intimidation, ridicule, insults, racially offensive comments and jokes, and cartoons and images that denigrated African-Americans. In January 2009, a cocktail lounge agreed to pay $41,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit alleging that the lounge engaged in race and religious discrimination when it refused to promote an African American employee who wears a headscarf in observance of her Muslim faith to be a cocktail server because the owner said she was looking only for what she termed "hot, White girls." Testimony in the record showed that the approving official was biased against those of complainant's race, particularly males. Contracting Officer position. The company claimed the entire case should be dismissed either because EEOC failed to join the relevant local union, which the company believed was a necessary party to the litigation, EEOC failed to conciliate the discrimination charges, and the plaintiff-intervenors failed to exhaust their administrative remedies. EEOC asserted in the lawsuit that the farm harassed Jamaican migrant workers and forced them to pay rent while permitting non-Jamaicans to live in housing rent-free in violation of Title VII.