Latest News
08/18/2008
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DENVER -- The EEOC today announced it has settled its class sexual harassment lawsuit against the Dillard's department store chain for $500,000 and substantial remedial relief on behalf of a class of 12 female former employees who were sexually harassed by an assistant store manager in two states, including a teenage employee.
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08/05/2008
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LITTLE ROCK, AR – The EEOC today announced that Tobacco Superstores, Inc. will pay $425,000 and provide significant remedial relief to settle a race discrimination lawsuit on behalf of qualified black workers who were denied promotion to management and then forced the workers to resign because of the failure to promote.
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08/04/2008
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PORTLAND, OR – Home electronics retailer Video Only will pay $630,000 and implement preventative measures to settle two discrimination lawsuits, the EEOC announced today. Judge Garr M. King of the U.S. District Court in Portland found the company liable and dismissed its defense. The company must provide anti-discrimination training to all management and non-management employees in Oregon and at its headquarters store in Seattle.
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07/17/2008
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WASHINGTON D.C. -- The HHS has reached a settlement with Seattle-based Providence Health & Services for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules. Providence agrees to pay $100,000 and implement a detailed Corrective Action Plan to ensure that it will appropriately safeguard identifiable electronic patient information against theft or loss.
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06/26/2008
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DENVER - Colorado's Governor has signed into law a controversial bill prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in public accommodations, union membership, housing, and a number of other commercial areas. The new law—Senate Bill 200—went into effect on May 29, 2008, and expands upon the protections added by the 2007 amendments to Colorado’s civil rights law, which banned sexual orientation and religious discrimination in employment. The bill defines sexual orientation as “a person’s orientation toward heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgender status or another person’s perception thereof.”
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06/24/2008
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SAN JOSE – A Silicon Valley manufacturer of semiconductor production equipment will pay $168,000 to settle an EEOC racial harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by an employee whose co-worker rapped aloud to music lyrics that included anti-black racial epithets such as the “N-word.” The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that delaying effective corrective action by more than half a year constitutes unlawful harassment, and that the black employee was fired in retaliation for his earlier complaints.
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06/02/2008
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NEW YORK – The EEOC announced the settlement of a harassment and retaliation lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act against Tavern on the Green. The Central Park landmark restaurant agreed to pay a $2.2 million claim fund, distribute a revised policy against discrimination and retaliation, and provide training to all employees against discrimination and retaliation. The EEOC charged the Tavern on the Green with engaging in severe and pervasive sexual, racial, and national origin harassment of female, black, and Hispanic employees.
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05/07/2008
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DALLAS — Razzoo’s, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based Cajun food restaurant chain, will pay $1 million and furnish significant remedial relief to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The EEOC had charged Razzoo’s with discriminating against a class of male applicants and employees in the position of bartender in its restaurants.
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04/17/2008
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KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will pay $300,000 to a Hardin, Mo., man to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit. During his interview he was questioned about his ability to work using his wheelchair and was told he was “best suited” for a greeter position.
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04/16/2008
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INDIANAPOLIS – Renhill Services, Inc., a Fort Wayne staffing company will settle an age, race and retaliation discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC. The company will pay a total of $580,000 and implement a policy of non-discrimination training and reporting to the EEOC.
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04/15/2008
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- BCI Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Los Angeles settled a race discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC. In addition to $250,000 for the African-American worker, a two-year consent decree applies to BCI and its Albuquerque facilitythat require BCI to carry out policies and practices that promote a work environment free from race discrimination -- including training sessions with managers, supervisors and employees of the Albuquerque facility on Title VII and race discrimination.
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04/07/2008
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DENVER – A Durango, Colo.-based McDonald’s restaurant franchise settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the EEOC on behalf of a class of young female employees, including teens. JOBEC, Inc. will pay $505,000 and provide significant remedial relief including letters of apology to the victims; training on sex discrimination in the defendants’ Colorado and New Mexico facilities; posting notices of non-discrimination in all of the defendants’ workplaces; and an injunction prohibiting discrimination and retaliation.
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03/19/2008
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BOSTON — The EEOC settled a law suit against with Washington Group International, Inc., a provider of construction and maintenance services for fostering a racially hostile work environment for black employees. In addition to $1.5 million dollars, injunctive relief includes requiring WGI to conduct anti-discrimination training; revise its equal employment opportunity policies; and monitoring by the EEOC for a period of two years.
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03/11/2008
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DALLAS - The EEOC today announced the settlement of a race and national origin harassment lawsuit against Allied Aviation Services, Inc. The Protected Class case involved nooses, racial slurs and graffiti of African American and Hispanic workers at a facility in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. The settlement for $1.9 million and includes significant injunctive relief requiring diversity training for all of Allied Aviation’s employees in U.S. facilities and the posting of a notice at all facilities.
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03/07/2008
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BOSTON -- While the future of House Bill 1722 -- which would expand the state's non-discrimination laws to protect all people regardless of their gender expression -- is uncertain, supporters say it is crucial in order to protect transgender people from the discrimination they face at work. The proposed law would add "gender identity or expression" to Massachusetts hate crime laws as well as to the employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and public education non-discrimination laws.
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02/04/2008
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CINCINNATI - Lawyers for 23 black workers at the Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. bottling plant in Madisonville have filed another racial harassment lawsuit against the Atlanta-based company, alleging that it continues to maintain a "hostile, intimidating, offensive, and abusive workplace environment" more than six years after a related class-action complaint was filed.
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02/01/2008
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TAMPA, FL - Unscheduled absences at Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) are climbing and creating a work force crisis for agency managers and a $2.1 million burden for its fiscal support system. At the heart of the problem is a clause in the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that allows intermittent leave for chronic illnesses. Forty-two percent of HART's 364 bus drivers have filed for intermittent FMLA.
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01/24/2008
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HIGH POINT, N.C. -- The EEOC announced the favorable settlement of a class suit for black employees at racially hostile workplace. African American employees at Henredon’s High Point manufacturing plant were subjected to racial slurs and name calling -- including the “N-word” -- as well as threats by hangman’s nooses that were displayed at the plant. The three year consent decree resolving the case requires anti-discrimination training and $465,000 in compensatory damages.
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01/15/2008
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NEW YORK – A federal court approved a $6.2 Million partial settlement of a historic racial discrimination case against Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 28. The suit charged the Union with underpaying Blacks and Hispanics, and the settlement represented the lost wages for the years 1984 to 1991. Negotiations continue with a separate class of workers who suffered discrimination after 1991.
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01/07/2008
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PORTLAND - A national origin discrimination lawsuit brought against Supreme Corporation by the EEOC was settled today for $427,000, organizational training and claim reporting performace data. The suit claimed harassment of seven employees at its Woodburn, Ore., facility, including demotion, discriminatory termination, and/or involuntary resignation by the plant manager because of their national original, Hispanic/Mexican.
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01/02/2008
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HONOLULU - Lockheed Martin, the nation's largest defense contractor, settled a racial harassment lawsuit in Hawaii for $2.5 million, the largest amount ever negotiated for a single person in a racial discrimination case.
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12/20/2007
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CINCINNATI – The EEOC charged that an apprenticeship test discriminated against hundreds of black workers and Ford Motor Co., along with two related companies and a national union, will pay $1.6 million and provide other remedial relief. The National United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) was also a defendant in the case because the test was used to select apprentices in the Ford-UAW Joint Apprenticeship Program and the lawsuit settlement affects people covered by the union agreement.
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12/10/2007
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MILWAUKEE – An EEOC Consent Decree ended a lawsuit against retail giant Target Corporation for hiring bias in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisc. Target agreed to pay $510,000 to the African American employees who were denied jobs as assistant store managers, and also agreed to provide training to supervisors on employment discrimination and record-keeping.
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12/05/2007
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SAN FRANCISCO - A new survey published by the Ethics Resource Center reveals that the ethical condition of corporate America is ominous, and that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) has been ineffective in raising employees’ awareness about ethical issues or decreasing the frequency of ethical violations.
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11/26/2007
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PHOENIX - The EEOC announced settlement of a lawsuit against a Phoenix makeup manufacturer for terms that include a $299,000 payment and required training aimed at educating employees about sexual harassment, retaliation and their rights. A parent company, New York-based Rubie's Costume Company, was also named in the lawsuit, which alleged that several managers at their Phoenix facility sexually harassed eight female employees and then retaliated against three of them for complaining about the unlawful conduct.
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11/20/2007
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PORTLAND — The EEOC announced that a wholesale nursery in Damascus, Oregon, has agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former female employee. The Leo Gentry Wholesale Nursery fired the eight-year employee after she complained about a supervisor who asked the woman out on dates more than a dozen times and refused her requests to stop.
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11/15/2007
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WASHINGTON -- A national Gallup poll on discrimination in today’s workplace says 15% of all workers report that they had been subjected to some sort of discriminatory or unfair treatment. When broken down into sub-groups, 31% of Asians surveyed reported incidents of discrimination, the largest percentage of any ethnic group, with African Americans constituting the second largest group at 26%.
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11/12/2007
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PORTLAND — The EEOC announced that a wholesale nursery in Damascus, Oregon, has agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former female employee. The Leo Gentry Wholesale Nursery fired the eight-year employee after she complained about a supervisor who asked the woman out on dates more than a dozen times and refused her requests to stop.
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10/25/2007
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- African American men were subjected to a racially hostile work environment on an oil rig including hangman’s nooses displayed on Rig 108, derogatory racial language, and race-based name calling. These complaints led to the EEOC settlement of a discrimination lawsuit against Helmerich & Payne International Drilling for $290,000 and significant injunctive relief:
* Requires that H & P conduct anti-discrimination training and post a notice about the settlement.
* Requires that H& P redistribute to the workforce its policies prohibiting racial harassment.
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10/23/2007
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JONESBORO, Ark. – The EEOC today announced a favorable jury verdict of $756,000 in a religious discrimination lawsuit brought against AT&T Inc. on behalf of two male customer service technicians who were suspended and fired for attending a Jehovah’s Witnesses Convention.
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10/19/2007
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WASHINGTON - The EEOC is alerting the business community and general public to avoid a "phishing" e-mail circulating to companies that purports to be from the federal agency regarding a harassment complaint. The bogus e-mail contains a Trojan Horse Virus that is downloaded to a recipient's computer if they click on the message's web link.
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10/16/2007
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SAN FRANCISCO - Update on State Laws Prohibiting Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Discrimination in Private Employment: Iowa, Colorado, and Oregon.
- Effective July 1, 2007, the state of Iowa prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Effective August 8, 2007, Colorado prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Beginning January 1, 2008, Oregon will also prohibit discrimination on either basis.
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10/15/2007
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NEW YORK – The EEOC filed a complaint and entered into a consent decree in federal district court with B & H Foto and Electronics Corp., one of the largest retailers of photo and electronic equipment in New York. The national origin discrimination case was filed on behalf of Hispanic workers who were paid less than non-hispanics, denied promotions and health benefits. The $4.3 million settlement also requires employer training, adoption of an anti-discrimination policy, and monitoring by the EEOC for the following five years.
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10/10/2007
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CHICAGO – Law firm Sidley Austin LLP will pay $27.5 million to 32 former partners who the EEOC alleged were forced out because of their age. The EEOC had brought the Age Bias law suit seeking protection of the 32 partners under Federal law against employment discrimination.
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10/04/2007
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MIAMI – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that United HealthCare of Florida, Inc. will pay $1.8 million to settle a same-sex harassment and retaliation lawsuit charging that the male former regional vice president of key accounts subjected a male former top senior account executive to repeated verbal sexual harassment.
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10/02/2007
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NEW YORK, N.Y. - A federal jury decided Madison Square Garden and its chairman must pay $11.6 million in damages to former New York Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders in her sexual harassment lawsuit against Knicks coach Isiah Thomas.
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10/01/2007
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NEW YORK, N.Y.– Bloomberg L.P., the news and financial services company, violated federal law by discriminating against a class of female employees who became pregnant and took maternity leave. The EEOC lawsuit says the financial services giant demoted the protected category of pregnant women and reduced their pay.
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09/28/2007
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PHILADELPHIA - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has launched a Title VII discrimination suit against Circuit City Stores Inc., claiming that a class of male employees of the Circuit City store in Springfield Township was subjected to unwelcome sexual advances by a male store director.
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09/20/2007
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NEW YORK -- Governor Eliot Spitzer signed a new law that protects the ability of working mothers to breast feed when they return to work. The law requires employers to provide uncompensated time and make a reasonable effort to provide private areas for women to nurse or express milk for a period of up to three years following the birth of a child. It also prohibits employers from discriminating against employees for exercising the new rights.
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09/19/2007
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SEATTLE -- Washington State recently amended its discrimination laws to broaden the definition of “disability.” Under the new law, virtually all diagnosable medical conditions could be considered a “disability” regardless of whether they impact a major life activity or are correctable with mitigating measures.
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09/08/2007
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COLORADO -- The state’s Anti-Discrimination Act has been amended to prohibit employers from discriminating in employment on the basis of sexual orientation and religion. Sexual orientation is defined as “a person’s orientation toward heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgender status or an employer’s perception thereof.” The amendment became effective on August 8, 2007 and applies to all employers in Colorado, regardless of size.
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09/06/2007
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BALTIMORE – The U.S. District Court in Maryland has ruled that the EEOC may proceed to trial with its sex discrimination lawsuit against L.A. Weight Loss Centers, Inc. (LAWL) The suit alleges that the company engaged in a pattern of disparate treatment against men in its recruiting, hiring, and assignment of employees.
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09/04/2007
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SAN FRANCISCO -- The District Court has ruled that a lead employee may be a supervisor in determining liability for sexual harassment under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Under the FEHA regulations, a supervisor is broadly defined as an individual with authority on behalf of an employer to "hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees."
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09/01/2007
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TALLAHASSEE -- A new law in Florida requires employers of 50 or more employees to provide up to 3 days unpaid leave in any 12 month period if the employee, or a family or household member of the employee, is the victim of domestic violence. Leave may be taken to seek medical care or counseling, for obtaining assistance from victim-services organizations and to seek legal help or protection for domestic violence.
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08/20/2007
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LAS VEGAS – The EEOC charged Desert Palace, Inc., doing business as Caesars Palace, with failing to address and correct their male supervisors actions in demanding the casino’s Latina kitchen workers to perform sex with them under threat of being fired. “In a case like this where many of the workers were monolingual Spanish speakers, victims of sexual harassment often feel further isolated, marginalized and unable to vindicate their rights,” said Anna Park, Regional Attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles District.
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08/14/2007
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Read this
feature story by the Wall Street Journal's Small Business columnist Raymund Flandez on how virtual training classes are giving workers flexibility and saving owners money.
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08/10/2007
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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a comprehensive new study examining the effectiveness and efficiency of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) programs used by federal agencies to resolve job disputes. Implementing ADR programs is a proactive step that model EEO programs are taking to help prevent unlawful discrimination from occurring.
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08/01/2007
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NEW YORK -- Female drug sales workers for Novartis Pharmaceuticals may proceed with a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit, a judge ruled in Federal District Court in Manhattan today. The class could include 4,000 to 5,000 current and former workers of Novartis dating to 2002.
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07/31/2007
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CHICAGO – July 31, 2007 - Nike Inc. has agreed to pay $7.6 million to settle a race discrimination lawsuit by current and former African-American employees in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The terms also require Nike to hire an employee ombudsperson at the store, appoint an outside consultant to conduct diversity training for all supervisors and managers, and add a settlement compliance officer at Nike's headquarters in Beaverton. Nike will also be required to create equal opportunity objectives for the Chicago store, create a formal mentoring program for black employees, evaluate its store theft-loss policies and also review its corporate human resources practices.
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07/26/2007
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DALLAS – The EEOC received a jury verdict of $166,500 in a disability harassment lawsuit brought against a Subway restaurant franchise, BobRich Enterprises, Inc., on behalf of a female manager who was discriminated against and forced to resign because of her hearing impairment. The Dallas jury agreed that the former Area Supervisor was subjected to a disability-based hostile work environment, including teasing and name-calling, because she is hearing impaired and wears hearing aids.
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07/20/2007
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HOUSTON -- The latest EEOC-Employer Partnership was announced at the signing of a National Universal Agreement to Mediate (NUAM) with CenterPoint Energy. The agreement calls for an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process to informally resolve workplace disputes before an EEOC investigation or potential litigation occurs.
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07/12/2007
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The EEOC today announced a $20 million proposed consent decree resolving a systemic race discrimination lawsuit against Walgreens. The EEOC’s suit alleged that Walgreens discriminated against African American retail management and pharmacy employees in promotion, compensation and assignment.
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07/06/2007
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WASHINGTON -- The EEOC issued revised regulations on age discrimination in the workplace in accordance with a 2004 Supreme Court decision that clarifies the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The revised regulations do not prohibit employers from favoring an older employee over a younger one when both are protected by the Act.
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06/08/2007
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DETROIT – The Michigan Seamless steel tubing company will pay one half million dollars and implement injunctive relief to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The agency had charged that Michigan Seamless Tube, after purchasing the assets of its predecessor company, refused to hire any former employees who are African American.
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06/04/2007
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PHOENIX – A Phoenix jury has awarded more than $287,000 in a religious discrimination suit against Alamo Car Rental. The EEOC lawsuit had charged Alamo committed post-9/11 backlash discrimination based on religion when it fired a Somali customer sales representative in December 2001 for refusing to remove her head scarf during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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05/31/2007
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Three race discrimination lawsuits in Alabama and Mississippi that charged that nooses, swastikas and graffiti were displayed to harass African American workers was settled here for a combined total of nearly half a million dollars and injunctive relief. The settlement included a class case against Pemco Aeroplex, a Birmingham-based aerospace and defense company, Ryan’s Restaurant Group, Inc. and Renal Care Group, Inc.
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05/23/2007
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WASHINGTON – The Commission heard from a broad range of expert panelists a public meeting focusing on employer best practices to achieve work/family balance, and issued a guidance document on how agency-enforced laws apply to workers with caregiving responsibilities.
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05/17/2007
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DENVER – The EEOC has settled a discrimination lawsuit alleging racial and national origin harassment against a Colorado Springs Transit Management facility. According to the terms of the consent decree resolving the case – which also includes significant injunctive relief, such as training - a payment of $450,000 will be divided between six class members.
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05/16/2007
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WASHINGTON – The EEOC is spotlighting the technology and techniques that employers use to screen increasing numbers of job applicants for compliance with EEOC-enforced federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
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05/08/2007
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NEW YORK – Iron Workers Local 580, a construction trade union, will pay $800,000 and provide substantial remedial relief to partially settle an EEOC contempt action charging that Local 580 refused to refer nonwhites to jobs on the same basis that it referred its white journeyperson workers because of their race and national origin.
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04/23/2007
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NEW YORK – A New York geriatric center will pay $900,000 to settle a class race and national origin discrimination lawsuit for subjecting 29 black and Caribbean employees (specifically, Haitian and Jamaican) to harassment and retaliation.
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04/05/2007
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CINCINNATI – The EEOC announced today that it has resolved its lawsuit charging that Jeff Wyler Eastgate, Inc. and its 10 Jeff Wyler-owned dealerships, discriminated against qualified women refusing to hire them for automobile sales positions.
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03/22/2007
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PHOENIX – EEOC settles suit for teenage workers who were sexually harassed by a middle-aged male supervisor, including unwanted touching and lewd comments.
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02/20/2007
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ROCKFORD, Ill. – A federal judge has given final approval to a $5 million settlement resolving two consolidated class action employment discrimination lawsuits against a global engine systems and parts company for illegal discrimination against African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians.
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01/26/2007
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EEOC Settles Suit for Class of African American Employees with the Minneapolis-based retail sales giant. The settlement also includes employer training and other remedial relief.
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11/22/2006
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CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. today announced the $2.2 million settlement of a claim brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act against Bank One Corporation.
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07/10/2006
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PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Laidlaw Transit Inc. school bus driver will receive $82,500 from her employer in a consent decree with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stemming from a sexual harassment suit.
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07/06/2006
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COLORADO (Rocky Mountain News ) - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed suit against grocer Albertsons, alleging a "decade-long history of racial and ethnic harassment" at the company's Aurora distribution center.
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06/22/2006
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ST. LOUIS (AP) - The Steak n Shake Co. has agreed to pay $180,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a woman who said she was groped by a fellow employee and that a restaurant manager and assistant manager refused to help her.
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06/21/2006
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is calling on employers to take steps to ensure that their workplaces are free of discrimination for millions of young people who are preparing to enter the labor force this summer.
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06/20/2006
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WINSTON- SALEM (The Business Journal)- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed suit against Winston-Salem Dining Concepts over alleged religious discrimination against an employee.
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06/09/2006
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VANCOUVER - (CBC News) - A Vancouver lawyer has resigned his job at one of the city's leading law firms after complaining of harassment for being "too gay" and too flamboyantly dressed.
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06/07/2006
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NEW YORK (CNN) - Nearly one in three U.S. companies has terminated an employee for violating e-mail policy in the past year, a survey released Monday said.
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06/06/2006
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NEW YORK (Reuters)—Merrill Lynch & Co. on Tuesday said settlement talks have broken down in a lawsuit accusing the largest U.S. full-service brokerage of discriminating against African-American brokers.
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06/06/2006
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NEW YORK - (Washington Post) - Verizon Communications Inc. will pay almost $49 million to 12,326 current and former female employees as part of a landmark class-action lawsuit alleging pregnancy discrimination.
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06/03/2006
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PHOENIX - (The Arab American News)- In a legal victory for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Arizona Federal District Court Judge Roslyn Silver ruled that Alamo Car Rental took part in post-9/11 backlash discrimination based on religion when it terminated a Somali customer sales representative in December 2001 for refusing to remove her head scarf during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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06/03/2006
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ORLANDO, FLORIDA - (Orlando Sentinel)- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, agreed to pay $315,000 to settle two U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sexual harassment lawsuits.
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06/03/2006
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OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - (KESQ News)- An Alameda County jury has awarded $61 million to two FedEx Ground drivers of Lebanese descent who claimed a manager continuously harassed them with racial slurs.
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05/31/2006
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TULSA, OKLAHOMA - (Business & Legal Reports)- A federal judge has ordered John Pickle Company, Inc. (JPC) and its president, John Pickle, to pay $1.24 million to 52 skilled laborers whom the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said were recruited from India and then subjected to widespread abuse, intimidation, and exploitation.
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05/26/2006
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LONDON - (Guardian)- Sexual harassment is rife in the armed forces, with 99% of servicewomen reporting they had been subjected to some form of sexual remark or material by male colleagues in the past year. One in seven - 15% - say they have had a "particularly upsetting" experience over the same period, ranging from sexually explicit comments through to sexual assault.
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05/24/2006
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NEW YORK - (North County Gazette)- The federal government has settled a civil rights lawsuit brought against the City of New York, alleging that the city violated the federal civil rights laws against employment discrimination by harassing women in the city's welfare-to-work program. A consent decree incorporating the terms of the settlement was approved today by United States District Judge Richard Casey.
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05/23/2006
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LOS ANGELES -(Reuters) - A former employee of a subsidiary of BB&T Corp. has filed a $50 million sexual harassment claim against the company.
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05/23/2006
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DENVER - (Denver Business Journal)- A former employee of Qwest Communications International Inc. has filed a lawsuit alleging he had to leave his job after being severely harassed at work because he is gay.
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05/22/2006
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SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today at a press conference the $750,000 settlement of a sex discrimination lawsuit against the National Education Association (NEA) and its affiliate NEA-Alaska on behalf of three female former employees who were subjected to persistent verbal abuse and intimidation by a belligerent high-level male manager. In addition to the monetary relief, the unions agreed to make policy changes to address any future discrimination.
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05/22/2006
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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Nine West and Jones Apparel Group will pay $600,000 to victims of sexual harassment, national origin harassment and retaliation, and take substantial steps to prevent future workplace bias as part of a major litigation settlement announced today by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
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05/22/2006
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BOSTON - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that the final settlement of its class action age discrimination lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will result in well over one million dollars in benefits to former state employees.
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05/19/2006
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New London, Connecticut (WTNH News) - Recent claims of sexual assault and harassment the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London are prompting members of Connecticut's congressional delegation to take action.
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05/16/2006
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CHICAGO (AP) - Northwestern University suspended its women's soccer team Monday pending an investigation of alleged hazing involving players last year.
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05/11/2006
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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — University of Colorado officials are investigating an allegation of sexual harassment involving a former employee of the men's basketball program, the school confirmed Wednesday.
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05/10/2006
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Iowa (Iowa City Press-Citizen) - Administrators and new students will be required to complete mandatory training regarding sexual harassment and violence policies, University of Iowa President David Skorton announced today. The mandatory training measures are part of the university's comprehensive responses to recommendations in reports by the Campus Climate Committee and a subsequent campus survey on sexual harassment conducted by the Council on the Status of Women
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05/03/2006
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DETROIT (Reuters) - A Toyota Motor Corp. employee has filed a $190 million lawsuit charging that the auto maker's top U.S. executive sexually harassed her and other executives failed to act on her complaints.
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04/28/2006
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LOS ANGELES – In a legal victory for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal district court for the Central District of California rejected a motion by Universal Pictures to dismiss a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC, allowing the case to move forward to trial, the federal agency announced today. The trial date is currently set for June 27, 2006.
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04/28/2006
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FRESNO, California (AP) -- A jury awarded $500,000 Friday to a woman who was spanked in front of her colleagues in what her employer called a camaraderie-building exercise.
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04/26/2006
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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released a report showing women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and American Indians /Alaskan Natives are still lagging behind as managers in a large share of finance industry firms.
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04/25/2006
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NEW YORK (AP)- A producer for TV talk-show host Maury Povich filed a $100 million sex harassment lawsuit against him and other members of his staff Monday, claiming they barraged her with sexual remarks and made her watch porno movies and expose her body.
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04/04/2006
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LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it has filed a national class action sex discrimination lawsuit against Lawry’s Restaurants, Inc., doing business as Lawry’s The Prime Rib, Five Crowns, and the Tam O’Shanter Inn, on behalf of male applicants who were systematically rejected for hire as food servers due to their gender. Lawry’s, a California-based corporation, operates restaurants in Las Vegas, Nevada, Chicago, Illinois, Dallas, Texas, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Corona del Mar, Calif.
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03/29/2006
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NEWARK, N.J. - Global shipping giant United Parcel Service (UPS) committed religious discrimination at its Secaucus, N.J., facilities, by refusing to hire a Rastafarian as a driver helper because of his beard, which he wore for religious purposes, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charges in a lawsuit.
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03/10/2006
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CHICAGO - Federal District Judge Charles R. Norgle, Sr. today entered a $2 million consent decree resolving a workplace discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) challenging sexual and racial harassment and retaliation at Cracker Barrel restaurants in Bloomington, Mattoon, and Matteson, Illinois, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (EEOC v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. and CBOCS West, Inc., N.D. Illinois No.04-C-5273).
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03/10/2006
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced it has settled, for $90,000 and other relief, its sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against Pand Enterprises, Inc., doing business as a McDonald's restaurant franchise, for subjecting a class of teenage male employees to sexual harassment by a male supervisor.
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03/10/2006
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MIAMI – A jury in federal district court in Tallahassee, Florida, has returned a $1.34 million verdict in a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Associated Security Enforcement, Inc. under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the agency announced today.
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03/08/2006
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WASHINGTON – In its continuing efforts to boost equal opportunity and corporate diversity through stronger partnerships with businesses, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Diversity Best Practices (DBP) and the Business Women’s Network (BWN) hosted a landmark symposium Tuesday at the EEOC’s downtown headquarters. More than 80 corporate officers and other executives from such companies as Lockheed Martin Corp., Coca-Cola and Eastman Kodak Co. were on hand to share their unique perspectives.
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03/01/2006
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BALTIMORE - A federal jury today found in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in its employment discrimination lawsuit against Federal Express Corporation (FedEx) for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). EEOC had charged the Memphis, Tenn.-based global shipping giant with failing to provide a reasonable accommodation to Ronald Lockhart, a profoundly deaf employee who worked as a package handler at the company's Baltimore Ramp.
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02/01/2006
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SANTA BARBARA - Long before former postal employee Jennifer Sanmarco went on a suicidal rampage inside a mail processing plant in Santa Barbara, killing six people there and a seventh elsewhere, acquaintances and others took note of her odd behavior, a spiral of bizarre acts that began at least two years ago.
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01/25/2006
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NEW YORK - Isiah Thomas reacted with indignation Wednesday over a former team executive's federal sexual harassment lawsuit, which accuses the New York Knicks president of unwanted advances, discrimination and "demeaning and repulsive behavior."
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12/28/2005
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NEW YORK – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today submitted a consent decree for court approval to settle an age discrimination lawsuit against Austrian Airlines (Austrian) for a half million dollars and other relief on behalf of William Thoman, former director of sales for the Americas, because of his age (then 51) and in retaliation for opposing discriminatory practices in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
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12/08/2005
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WASHINGTON - A national Gallup poll on discrimination in today’s workplace, conducted in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), shows that while much progress has been made in fulfilling the promise of equal opportunity, more remains to be done.
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11/15/2005
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BALTIMORE -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a litigation settlement for $625,000 and comprehensive injunctive relief in an employment discrimination case against the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education (Paul Hall Center) and Seafarers International (SIU) due to age bias in an apprenticeship program.
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10/24/2005
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ST. LOUIS - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a half million dollar settlement of a class employment discrimination lawsuit against FedEx Freight East, a nationwide trucking company, on behalf of 20 qualified African American employees who were denied promotions and assignments based on their race.
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09/29/2005
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FORT MADISON, IOWA - A federal judge has ordered the Dial Corporation to pay over $3 million to resolve a sex discrimination suit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against The Dial Corporations Armour Star Meat Packing plant in Fort Madison, Iowa.
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09/27/2005
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RALEIGH - Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (Carmike), a large movie theater chain operating 312 theaters in 36 states, will pay $765,000 to resolve an employment discrimination lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charging that a group of young men were sexually harassed by their male supervisor, a convicted sex offender, at Carmike’s theater located at 5501 Atlantic Springs Road in Raleigh.
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09/20/2005
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DENVER - A former employee of Belle Bonfils Memorial Blood Center in Denver who claims the center discriminated against him because of his HIV-positive status, is appealing a lower court's 2004 dismissal of his lawsuit, the Denver Post reports.
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09/15/2005
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SEATTLE - Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc., a casual dining chain with restaurants throughout the country, will pay $150,000 and make substantial policy and procedural changes to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged the company with refusing to accommodate the religious needs of an employee and then illegally firing him.
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09/14/2005
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WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with a developer and an architectural firm in Spokane, Wash., resolving a lawsuit that alleged disability related housing discrimination. Under the agreement, the developer and architectural firm have agreed to retrofit 10 apartment complexes in Spokane and pay $540,000.
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09/13/2005
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LAS VEGAS - A female employee of Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip was subjected to physical and verbal sexual harassment and her co-workers were severely retaliated against for opposing the unlawful conduct, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today in federal court. The charging parties were all Chinese kitchen workers who were discriminated against by a male supervisor.
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08/16/2005
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PITTSBURGH - United Parcel Service Inc. discriminates against employees who take certain prescription drugs, a former UPS package sorter said in a lawsuit filed against the shipping company.
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08/15/2005
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NEW YORK - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that a $40 million sex discrimination claim fund – which was established pursuant to the $54 million landmark settlement last year with brokerage giant Morgan Stanley – will be distributed to the 67 eligible discrimination victims who came forward to participate in the claims process.
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08/12/2005
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SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court on Thursday gave broad protections to workers who oppose orders that could be discriminatory, giving employees rights that legal experts said appear to go beyond those in any other state. The ruling came in the case of a supervisor who resisted her boss's order to fire a woman who was not "good-looking enough" and to replace her with someone "hot." The ruling significantly expands protections for workers who refuse to follow orders they reasonably believe violate the state's anti-discrimination laws. Workers will be protected from retaliation even if they do not explicitly complain about the alleged discrimination and even if the order was not in fact unlawful.
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08/12/2005
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BIRMINGHAM - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Birmingham on Thursday sued Tyson Foods after two black employees claimed someone at the company's Ashland [Alabama] plant posted a "whites only" sign on a bathroom. The sign was up for 24 hours, then taken down. An EEOC investigation revealed the white employee who posted the sign said he did it at the request of a Tyson plant supervisor. When [Henry] Adams and [Leon] Walker complained about the segregated bathroom, they were suspended and given disciplinary write-ups by management, the EEOC suit says.
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08/12/2005
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CHICAGO - The operators of 22 hair salons in the Chicago area barred Hispanic employees from speaking Spanish to one another even while on break, a federal lawsuit alleged Thursday. The suit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accused the owners of the stores of discriminating on the basis of national origin with their "English only" rule. The suit was filed on behalf of an undetermined number of Latino women who work or formerly worked at the franchises owned by the two businesses. The EEOC's regional attorney said the lawsuit was one of several filed by the agency in Chicago in recent years to address "English-only" rules in the workplace.
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08/11/2005
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TULSA - Whirlpool will pay $850,000 to settle claims by the Labor Department that the company discriminated against 800 black job applicants. The key was a multiple-choice screening test that eliminated from job consideration a higher percentage of black applicants than those from other groups. Although an employer may use a test as a screening tool, if it eliminates a large number of applicants in a protected group in that process--such as minorities--the employer must conduct a study to ensure that the test is job-related. The Labor Department found that not all the skills being tested for were vital for the entry-level jobs being filled.
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08/11/2005
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CHICAGO - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, sitting in Chicago, has reversed a lower court decision which granted a judgment without trial in favor of Sears Roebuck in a case brought against the retailer by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (EEOC & Keane v. Sears Roebuck & Company, 7th Cir. Nos. 04-2222 and 04-2493, 8/10/2005). A previous judgment by the lower court in favor of Sears in the same case had also been reversed by the Court of Appeals in 2000.
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07/27/2005
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NEW YORK - A former Google sales executive has filed a lawsuit against the search giant, alleging it engaged in job discrimination while she was pregnant with quadruplets.
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07/22/2005
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LAS VEGAS - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a $600,000 settlement of a national origin harassment lawsuit against Western Casework Corporation, a Las Vegas-area cabinetmaker that supplies cabinetry to businesses and commercial construction projects.
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07/19/2005
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SACRAMENT0 - The California Supreme Court struck a blow against the "casting couch" Monday, ruling that an employer can be sued for sexual harassment for signaling that the way to get ahead at work is to sleep with the boss.
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07/12/2005
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BOSTON - Ten shoppers filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., alleging that employees in the Avon store targeted them as potential shoplifters based on their race.
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06/22/2005
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INDIANAPOLIS - The owner of senior communities in 14 states will pay $650,000 to settle a race discrimination suit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC charged that a Fort Wayne senior community refused to hire African Americans and members of other racial groups for many years. The agency also said the facility failed to keep employment records, specifically application papers, as required by law.
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06/15/2005
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LOS ANGELES - A class of Latino farm workers at Rivera Vineyards will share $1,050,000 in one of the largest employment discrimination settlements by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the agribusiness industry. The agreement covers a group of employees, mostly Hispanic women, who were allegedly sexually harassed, retaliated against for complaining, and segregated into certain jobs based on gender.
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06/09/2005
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CHICAGO - The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois today issued a written opinion by Judge James Zagel decisively rejecting the attempt of international law firm Sidley & Austin to avoid any possible liability for individual relief in a closely watched age discrimination lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
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06/09/2005
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NEW ORLEANS - A federal court here has rejected the efforts of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DuPont) to overturn an October 2004 jury verdict that found the company liable for maliciously and intentionally discriminating against an employee with a disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today. The judgment entered by the court orders the Delaware-based science and chemical giant to pay $591,000 to a former employee who was fired due to her disability – including $300,000 in punitive damages, the maximum allowed under the law.
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06/08/2005
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NEW YORK - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") today announced a $525,000 settlement of its lawsuit against the Plaza Hotel, Fairmont Hotel Management LP and Fairmont Hotel and Resorts, Inc. under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act for discrimination related to the events of September 11, 2001, against a class of 12 Muslim, Arab, and South Asian employees based on their religion and/or national origin.
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06/08/2005
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Equal Rights Center (ERC), the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and the United Spinal Association along with their counsel, Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld, & Toll, PLLC and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs announced today what is by far the largest settlement of a lawsuit challenging defects in the design and construction of multi-family housing under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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06/01/2005
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CINCINNATI - During a Fairness Hearing today in federal district court, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Ford Motor Company, the United Auto Workers (UAW), and private plaintiffs' attorneys reiterated their approval of and commitment to sweeping changes mandated by the settlement of a class action race discrimination case against Ford on behalf of thousands of African American employees nationwide.
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05/20/2005
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DENVER - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has settled a class-wide discrimination lawsuit against aerospace and industrial product manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand charging that a class of Hispanic employees at the company's Grand Junction, Colorado, facility was harassed and subjected to a hostile work environment based on their national origin.
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05/06/2005
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DENVER - After a three-day trial, a 12-person jury returned an $8 million verdict in federal court today for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a lawsuit alleging that EchoStar Communications Corp. (EchoStar) violated the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) when it refused to provide a reasonable accommodation to Dale Alton, a qualified blind employee. EchoStar, based in Englewood, Colorado, is a provider of advanced digital television services.
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05/04/2005
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BOSTON - A federal court jury on Monday found that Harvard University did not discriminate against a library assistant who claimed her repeated bids for promotion were rejected by school officials because they saw her as "just a pretty girl."
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04/26/2005
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MYRTLE BEACH - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) today announced that a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina restaurant has settled a federal lawsuit filed by the NAACP and others after several restaurants allegedly refused to open during the annual Memorial Day weekend Atlantic Beach Bike Festival attended primarily by African American motorcycle enthusiasts.
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04/11/2005
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NEW YORK - A federal jury awarded $29 million (?22.55 million) in damages to a former Wall Street executive who sued UBS AG, alleging the bank discriminated against her because she was a woman and then retaliated when she complained about her treatment.
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04/04/2005
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LOS ANGELES - A class of kitchen workers was severely sexually harassed by supervisors for years at famed Las Vegas hotel/casino Caesars Palace, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in an employment discrimination lawsuit. The EEOC also said Caesars management illegally retaliated against employees for complaining about the abuse.
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03/31/2005
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SAN FRANCISCO - Four female financial consultants filed a national class action lawsuit Thursday in federal court in San Francisco, charging sex discrimination at Smith Barney, the retail brokerage arm of Citigroup, which is the nation's largest financial institution.
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03/04/2005
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BALTIMORE - A federal jury has awarded $397,948 in backpay and damages to a 56-year old veteran foreman of a Baltimore, Maryland-based wholesaler of burial caskets who was fired due to age discrimination after three decades of work for the company, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.
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02/09/2005
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ST. LOUIS - A quadriplegic lawyer from St. Louis, Mo., has filed a federal lawsuit against Donald Trump's TV show "The Apprentice," saying it is discriminatory.
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02/08/2005
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DES MOINES - A federal district court in Iowa has ruled that a pre-employment strength test used by The Dial Corporation at its Armour meat packing plant in Fort Madison, Iowa, has a disparate impact against women, and is therefore illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.
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01/21/2005
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