EEOC: Lawsuits and Settlements – July 16 to 31, 2024

Each month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) files lawsuits and settles cases covering the federal laws they are responsible for enforcing. These federal laws include:

Below is a list of lawsuits and settlements by the EEOC in from July 16 to July 31, 2024.



EEOC Lawsuits

Washington: Dollar General to Pay $295,000 in EEOC Age Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Washington

Summary

According to the lawsuit, since at least 2017, a male employee at the Richland, Washington, location repeatedly subjected his female coworkers to sexual harassment, including wolf-whistling, leering, and degrading sexual comments about their bodies and appearance, as well as groping one female co-worker in the workplace. He also followed female employees around the store and into the companyโ€™s parking lot after their shifts, and attempted to follow one female employee with his car as she left the companyโ€™s parking lot. Several female employees complained about harassment by this male employee to their managers and to Fred Meyerโ€™s HR department. Fred Meyer eventually issued warnings to the male employee, but permitted him to continue harassing his female coworkers for years, until it finally terminated him in 2021.



EEOC Settlements

Texas: Altman Specialty Plants to Pay $172,000 to Conciliate EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Charges

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Retaliation

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Texas

Summary

The EEOC found that an Altman supervisor subjected female employees to sexual harassment and a sexually hostile work environment for an extensive period at its Austin, Texas location. It also found that after complaining about sexual harassment, the employees were retaliated against, thereby creating a chilling effect making Altmanโ€™s EEO policies and complaint procedures ineffective.


Oklahoma: Dollar General to Pay $295,000 in EEOC Age Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit

Allegations

Age discrimination; Retaliation

Laws Involved

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

State

Oklahoma

Summary

According to the lawsuit, from July 2016 until January 2018, a newly hired Dollar General regional director in Oklahoma harassed district managers who were in their 50s and older by calling them โ€œgrumpy old men,โ€ telling them he was building โ€œa millennial teamโ€ and they needed โ€œyoung bloodโ€ in the stores, and threatening them to keep up with the โ€œmillennial teamโ€ or quit or be fired.

After one of the district managers quit and reported the harassment to the company, Dollar General sought feedback from the district managers about the new regional director but did not investigate reports of age discrimination. Emboldened, the regional director continued harassing older workers and fired two district managers in retaliation for reporting his misconduct. Eventually another district manager was forced to quit because of the continual harassment.


Florida: Hankโ€™s Furniture to Pay $110,000 in EEOC Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

Allegations

Religion discrimination

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Florida

Summary

According to the lawsuit, a former assistant manager at HFIโ€™s Pensacola, Florida, location notified the company that her religious beliefs prevented her from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Rather than discuss the employeeโ€™s religious beliefs to determine the feasibility of an accommodation, management ignored accommodation requests then summarily denied the employeeโ€™s requests and attempted to dispute the validity of her sincerely-held religious beliefs.


California: Fremont Contractor to Settle EEOC Harassment Charge

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Sexual orientation discrimination; Gender identity discrimination

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

California

Summary

The worker, who is openly transgender and identifies as queer, filed a charge with EEOC alleging his supervisors and coworkers targeted him with verbal harassment and physical threats due to his gender identity and sexual orientation. He also alleged that he was transferred to new worksites in retaliation for reporting the harassment, and ultimately was constructively discharged because he did not feel safe enough to return to work. The EEOCโ€™s investigation found evidence confirming the alleged harassment and that, despite the workerโ€™s reports of harassment, Superior Automatic Sprinkler Company failed to act appropriately.


California: Hatzel & Buehler to Pay $500,000 to Settle EEOC Age Discrimination Suit

Allegations

Age discrimination

Laws Involved

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

State

California

Summary

According to the EEOCโ€™s lawsuit, since at least November 2020, the vice president of Hatzel & Buehlerโ€™s New Jersey branch engaged in age discriminatory recruiting and hiring practices when he requested that recruiting companies seek out younger project manager and estimator candidates for job opportunities and then refused to hire older workers because they did not fall within his desired age range. The EEOCโ€™s lawsuit also alleged that the same vice president failed to retain job applicant and hiring-related records in violation of federal law.


Louisiana: EEOC Sues X-Treme Tech Services for Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Retaliation

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Louisiana

Summary

According to the lawsuit, the female employee was an administrative assistant for X-Treme Tech and her supervisor repeatedly and persistently subjected her to unwelcome sexual advances. His conduct included sending her numerous sexually explicit text messages and images, commenting on her body, touching her inappropriately, attempting to her kiss her, and propositioning her for sex. After she repeatedly declined his advances, he became unfairly critical of her work and fired her.


California: Select Staffing to Pay $500,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Retaliation

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

California

Summary

The EEOC lawsuit charged that female workers placed by Select Staffing to work at a National Raisin production facility were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment and retaliation. Despite onsite supervision from Select Staffing, widespread harassment of female workers by managers and employees alike went unaddressed by the staffing agency, the EEOC said. The harassment included frequent unwanted groping, sexually explicit comments, requests for sexual favors, and retaliatory termination following complaints of harassment. The lawsuit also charged that Select Staffing failed to take appropriate corrective measures after receiving complaints about the harassment, instead assuming the client National Raisin would respond, the EEOC charged.


EEOC Sues GEM Management For Sexual Harassment

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Kentucky

Summary

According to the EEOCโ€™s lawsuit, GEM Management knew its Stanford, Kentucky site manager reported being sexually harassed, but failed to address it, instead directing the employee to continue working with her harasser. This conduct created a hostile work environment and led the employee to resign.


Walmart Agrees to Pay $75,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

Allegations

Disability discrimination

Laws Involved

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

State

North Carolina

Summary

According to the lawsuit, an employee working for a Walmartโ€™s distribution center in Fayetteville, North Carolina, experienced the onset of severe pain due to a neurological disability affecting her right hand and wrist. The employee applied for intermittent leave as a reasonable accommodation but the accommodation was denied. Walmart told the employee she could not return to work unless she provided a full medical release saying she could work without restrictions. Frustrated by Walmartโ€™s continued refusal to allow her to return to work, the employee made an internal complaint to the companyโ€™s Global Ethics Office. Walmart fired her nine days later.


Third Bench Holdings to Pay $165,000 in EEOC Retaliation Lawsuit

Allegations

National origin discrimination; Retaliation

Laws Involved

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

State

New Mexico

Summary

According to the EEOCโ€™s lawsuit, the general manager complained that a company official discriminated against her based on what she believed to be her Hispanic national origin. In response to her complaint, the human resources director investigated the complaint, including interviewing the employeeโ€™s husband, who worked with the same company.

The suit said that one day after the investigation began, the general manager was demoted and her husband was fired. Shortly thereafter, the human resources director reported concerns about retaliatory treatment by the same company official who was the subject of the complaints. After she reported to higher management, the human resources director was then also fired, the EEOC said.


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