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:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)
- The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022 (PWFA)
- The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA)
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
- Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
- Sections 102 and 103 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991
- Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)
Below is a list of lawsuits and settlements by the EEOC in from October 16 to 31, 2024.
- EEOC Lawsuits
- EEOC Settlements
- California: Catalyst Family, Inc. Resolves EEOC Disability Discrimination Charge
- Colorado: Nature’s Herbs & Wellness Center to Pay $95,000 In EEOC Disability And Retaliation Case
- Georgia: Waste Industries and GFL Environmental, Inc. to Pay $3.1 Million in EEOC Sex Discrimination Lawsuit
- Michigan: Formel D USA, Inc. to Pay $80,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit
- Nevada: Cruz Construction to Pay $56,000 in EEOC Retaliation Charge
- North Carolina: Hooters of America, LLC to Pay $250,000 to Settle EEOC Race and Color Lawsuit
- North Carolina: Cinergy Entertainment Group to Pay $137,000 in EEOC Retaliation Suit
- North Dakota: LM Wind Power, Inc. Agrees to Pay $125,000 in EEOC Racial Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit
- Pennsylvania: Center One and Capital Management Services to Pay $60,000 in EEOC Religious Accommodation Suit
- Pennsylvania: Center One and Capital Management Services to Pay $60,000 in EEOC Religious Accommodation Suit
- Texas: Center One and Capital Management Services to Pay $60,000 in EEOC Religious Accommodation Suit
EEOC Lawsuits
Colorado: EEOC Sues Amer Sports for Retaliation
Allegations
Age discrimination; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
State
Colorado
Summary
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, an employee complained multiple times to human resources and management about age discrimination during an organizational restructuring. During the reorganization, the company created a new leadership role and hired several younger, less experienced employees to fill the positions without posting the positions or giving older, more experienced employees the opportunity to apply.
When the employee complained that the actions constituted age discrimination, his regional manager and the company’s human resources representative warned him not to pursue his complaint up the chain, implying it would jeopardize his career. When the employee nevertheless elevated his complaint to the company’s global vice president, Amer Sports terminated him less than six weeks later.
Michigan: EEOC Sues Culver’s for Discriminating Against Transgender Employee and Retaliating Against Him and His Co-Workers
Allegations
Sex discrimination; Gender identity discrimination; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
State
Michigan
Summary
According to the lawsuit, Asher Lucas, a transgender Culver’s shift manager, was repeatedly and purposely misgendered by two employees. Three of Lucas’s colleagues witnessed one of the employees, who was openly hostile toward gay and transgender people, make anti-trans comments and misgender him. Lucas and his colleagues reported the harassment to a Culver’s general manager, but nothing was done to stop the harassment, the EEOC says. Instead, the employee was emboldened to obtain Lucas’s birth name, deadname him, and reveal his birth name to co-workers without his consent.
As alleged in the complaint, Lucas and his colleagues complained again to their Culver’s general manager about the co-worker’s escalating offensive conduct. Instead of investigating Lucas’s and his co-workers’ complaints of harassment, Culver’s fired them the day after they complained, the EEOC charges.
EEOC Settlements
California: Catalyst Family, Inc. Resolves EEOC Disability Discrimination Charge
Allegations
Disability discrimination
Laws Involved
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
State
California
Summary
According to the EEOC’s investigation, the part-time employee worked for Catalyst Family for about two years when he requested an accommodation for his intellectual and cognitive disabilities in March 2021. The investigation found that instead of fully implementing the accommodation agreed upon, his employer terminated him as an assistant teacher due to his disability in April 2022.
Colorado: Nature’s Herbs & Wellness Center to Pay $95,000 In EEOC Disability And Retaliation Case
Allegations
Disability discrimination
Laws Involved
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
State
Colorado
Summary
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Nature’s Herbs failed to reasonably accommodate a budtender’s disabilities after she disclosed her disabilities to her manager and requested accommodation. When the employee complained about disability discrimination, Nature’s Herbs suspended her without pay and later fired her. In internal communications regarding the employee’s termination, the owner of Nature’s Herbs instructed human resources to “cut [the employee] loose” because she did not disclose her disabilities when she was hired, and the human resources manager referred to the employee as a “fruitcake.”
Georgia: Waste Industries and GFL Environmental, Inc. to Pay $3.1 Million in EEOC Sex Discrimination Lawsuit
Allegations
Sex discrimination
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
State
Georgia
Summary
The EEOC’s suit alleged that, since 2016, Waste Industries denied qualified female applicants truck driver positions at multiple company locations throughout Georgia. According to the lawsuit, during the application and interview process, female applicants were subjected to derogatory comments about their feminine appearance based on sex-based stereotypes and were asked sexist questions about their ability to do the job, such as, “Why would you want to do a man’s job?” Despite being fully qualified for the positions, female applicants were denied truck driver positions in favor of less qualified male applicants, the EEOC said.
Michigan: Formel D USA, Inc. to Pay $80,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit
Allegations
Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
State
Michigan
Summary
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a female employee was sexually harassed by her male supervisor shortly after being hired. The harassment involved constant unwanted sexual advances, unwanted touching, kissing and hugging without the employee’s consent, and showing her a sexually explicit video while at work. The employee rejected the male supervisor’s sexual advances and, as a result, the supervisor cut her work hours. When she complained to a higher manager, no action was taken by the company, the harassment continued, and the company laid off and eventually fired her.
Nevada: Cruz Construction to Pay $56,000 in EEOC Retaliation Charge
Allegations
Disability discrimination
Laws Involved
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
State
Nevada
Summary
According to the EEOC’s investigation, the company fired an administrative assistant in July 2023, two days after she requested a reasonable accommodation for a disability.
North Carolina: Hooters of America, LLC to Pay $250,000 to Settle EEOC Race and Color Lawsuit
Allegations
Race discrimination; Color discrimination
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
State
North Carolina
Summary
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a Hooters located in Greensboro, North Carolina, laid off approximately 43 employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Included in the layoffs were a class of employees who were Black and/or had dark skin tone and worked as “Hooters Girls.” When Hooters began recalling employees to return to work in May of 2020, Hooters recalled primarily white employees and those with lighter skin tones. The lawsuit also alleged that Hooters Girls with dark skin tones experienced racial hostility and observed preferential treatment of white employees while employed at the restaurant.
North Carolina: Cinergy Entertainment Group to Pay $137,000 in EEOC Retaliation Suit
Allegations
Retaliation
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
State
North Carolina
Summary
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, in 2023, a former employee re-applied to work for Cinergy, but a company vice president told her she was not eligible for rehire because she filed a previous discrimination charge with the EEOC after being fired from a bartending position in 2022.
North Dakota: LM Wind Power, Inc. Agrees to Pay $125,000 in EEOC Racial Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit
Allegations
Race discrimination; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
State
North Dakota
Summary
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a Black employee’s managers and co-workers subjected him to pervasive racial harassment, including racial slurs and insults, and racially charged threats of violence. The employee reported the harassment, but leadership at LM Wind Power’s Grand Forks failed to take effective steps to stop it. The EEOC also asserted retaliation claims on behalf of the employee, after he was terminated for complaining about continuing harassment from co-workers.
Pennsylvania: Center One and Capital Management Services to Pay $60,000 in EEOC Religious Accommodation Suit
Allegations
Religion discrimination; Reasonable accommodations
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
State
Pennsylvania
Summary
The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that in October 2016, a Center One employee, an adherent of Messianic Judaism, requested a reasonable accommodation of his religious belief requiring abstaining from work on religious observance days. The EEOC charged that Center One refused to grant the employee a schedule modification to observe religious holidays because he was unable to provide a certification from a religious leader or religious organization supporting his request. Instead, the company imposed disciplinary points against the employee for his religious-based absences, even after being informed he was unable to obtain the requested certification because he was not a member of a congregation, thereby forcing the employee to resign, the EEOC charged.
Pennsylvania: Center One and Capital Management Services to Pay $60,000 in EEOC Religious Accommodation Suit
Allegations
Religion discrimination; Reasonable accommodations
Laws Involved
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
State
Pennsylvania
Summary
The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that in October 2016, a Center One employee, an adherent of Messianic Judaism, requested a reasonable accommodation of his religious belief requiring abstaining from work on religious observance days. The EEOC charged that Center One refused to grant the employee a schedule modification to observe religious holidays because he was unable to provide a certification from a religious leader or religious organization supporting his request. Instead, the company imposed disciplinary points against the employee for his religious-based absences, even after being informed he was unable to obtain the requested certification because he was not a member of a congregation, thereby forcing the employee to resign, the EEOC charged.
Texas: Center One and Capital Management Services to Pay $60,000 in EEOC Religious Accommodation Suit
Allegations
Disability discrimination; Retaliation
Laws Involved
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
State
Texas
Summary
According to the lawsuit, VibraLife hired an employee with a sleep disorder for a night shift position. The job posting required the selected candidate to work 36 hours per week in three 12-hour shifts. Upon beginning her employment, the employee was notified that she would be required to work a fourth 12-hour shift every other week. The employee promptly requested an accommodation that her schedule be limited to the express terms of the job posting and offer to accommodate her disability. Shortly after receiving the employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation, the employee was demoted and then terminated.
