EEOC: Lawsuits and Settlements – September 1 to 15, 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 September 1 to September 15, 2024.



EEOC Lawsuits

Colorado: EEOC Sues Three Employers for Workplace Harassment

Allegations

Race discrimination; National origin discrimination; Harassment

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Colorado

Summary

The agency filed suit against the airline after a manager harassed an employee who was born in Mongolia by calling him a โ€œchink,โ€ grabbing his arm to inspect his identification badge, and asking if he liked working for United before slapping him on the back and walking away. The harassment took place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when Asian Americans were experiencing increased public hostility and violence. United failed to investigate for months, which led to the workerโ€™s resignation.


Florida: EEOC Sues Three Employers for Workplace Harassment

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Florida

Summary

The agency filed suit against the restaurant after one of its owners subjected female employees to a sexually hostile work environment. One of the restaurantโ€™s owners, who owns the bar with two of his brothers, openly and on a daily basis, made sexually charged comments, propositioned his female employees to have sex with him, and touched and groped female employees without their consent. The other two owners witnessed the conduct but failed to take action. When a female employee complained about the harassment, she was terminated.


Georgia: EEOC Sues Two Companies for Disability Discrimination

Allegations

Disability discrimination; Reasonable Accommodation

Laws Involved

Americans with Disabilities Act

State

Georgia

Summary

According to the EEOCโ€™s lawsuit, the applicant for a registration associate position requested a disability-related exemption to CHOAโ€™s flu vaccination requirement based on a severe allergy to eggs, which are contained in the standard flu vaccination. The applicant provided medical documentation to support the accommodation request, but CHOA failed to provide a reasonable accommodation of a vaccine exemption or an egg-free flu vaccine. Instead, the EEOC said, CHOA rescinded its offer of employment based on the applicantโ€™s disability and filled the position with an internal candidate who had โ€œno issueโ€ receiving the flu vaccine.


Indiana: EEOC Sues Wabash National for Pregnancy Discrimination

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Disability discrimination; Pregnancy discrimination

Laws Involved

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Americans with Disabilities Act

State

Indiana

Summary

According to the EEOCโ€™s lawsuit, Wabash denied a pregnant employeeโ€™s accommodation request to transfer to a role that did not require lying on her stomach. Instead, the company forced her to take unpaid leave and ultimately gave her no choice but to return to her position without modification. The companyโ€™s decision to deny the accommodation request caused her to fear for the health of her pregnancy, the EEOC said, and she was forced to resign nearly eight months pregnant.

In response to her request, the company also unlawfully required medical documentation, and failed to accommodate even though it could have provided changes similar to those the company provides for non-pregnant workers with similar limitations, according to the suit.


Illinois: EEOC Sues Helia Healthcare for Sexual Harassment, Disability Discrimination and Retaliation

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Illinois

Summary

According to the suit, a nurse who worked at Heliaโ€™s rehabilitation center in Salem, Illinois, was sexually harassed by the director of nursing, which included unwanted physical contact, and she reported the harassment to management.

Also, when the nurse needed a short leave of absence in connection with planned foot surgery, Helia failed to provide leave or make any other accommodation. Instead, the company told her the only option was to quit and reapply for her job, if available. After the employee stated that she believed the failure to accommodate her leave of absence was retaliation for her sexual harassment complaints, Helia banned her from the premises, the EEOC said.


Minnesota: EEOC Sues FedEx For Disability Discrimination

Allegations

Disability discrimination; Reasonable accommodation

Laws Involved

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

State

Minnesota

Summary

According to the EEOCโ€™s lawsuit, since Nov. 29, 2019, FedEx maintained and enforced a 100%-healed policy against ramp transport drivers, who drive a tractor-trailer and operate mechanical equipment to load and unload pallets or containers loaded with freight. When FedEx learned a ramp transport driver had medical restrictions, FedEx put the driver on a 90-day temporary light-duty assignment. At the end of that light-duty assignment, if the driver still had medical restrictions, FedEx would place the driver on unpaid medical leave that expired after one year unless the driver qualified for short- or long-term disability benefits.

FedEx would not discuss reasonable accommodations with the driver that would have allowed them to keep working, such as getting assistance from other employees or using motorized equipment to help with moving freight. Instead, the EEOC said, FedEx kept them on unpaid leave until the drivers could prove they could work without any restrictions or their leave expired, at which time they were terminated.

The initial complainant, who filed the charge that initiated EEOCโ€™s investigation, was a ramp transport driver working out of a FedEx facility in Minneapolis. She had sustained injuries that limited her ability to lift. FedEx placed her on temporary light duty, then unpaid medical leave, and ultimately fired her because she could not return to work without restrictions, even though she would have been able to perform her job with accommodations, the EEOC said.


Tennessee: EEOC Sues Two Companies for Disability Discrimination

Allegations

Disability discrimination; Reasonable Accommodation

Laws Involved

Americans with Disabilities Act

State

Tennessee

Summary

According to the EEOC, Berry Global violated federal law by forcing a disabled employee to take leave under the Family Medical Leave Act when it discovered the employee used three days of accrued personal time off (PTO) to manage her depression. Berry Global did not allow the employee to return to work without a doctorโ€™s note, while also penalizing her with attendance points for her absences. When the employee could not quickly produce a doctorโ€™s note, Berry Global failed to follow its own attendance policy, which allows for attendance points adjustments for employees with disabilities, and later fired the employee.

In a separate case, the EEOC charges that HHS unlawfully fired a blind employee two days after he fell at work, even though he was uninjured. Despite his exemplary performance for more than a year, HHS made no effort to reassess the employeeโ€™s capabilities after the fall before firing him, in violation of its own company policy. HHS discharged the employee solely due to his disability, despite his ability to perform the essential functions of the job, according to the suit.


Texas: EEOC Sues Dallas Barber and Stylist College for Pregnancy Discrimination

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Pregnancy discrimination

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Texas

Summary

According to the suit, a pregnant woman applied for a hair braider position and performed a skills test for Dallas Barber with satisfactory results, but the companyโ€™s owner then informed the applicant that it already had a pregnant employee and did not want two pregnant women at its school. The lawsuit alleges Dallas Barber indicated it did not want to deal with the pregnant womanโ€™s โ€œcondition,โ€ referring to her pregnancy.


Virginia: EEOC Sues Three Employers for Workplace Harassment

Allegations

Race discrimination; Harassment

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Virginia

Summary

The agency filed suit against the restaurant and its successor company after the owner subjected a Black general manager to numerous derogatory racial comments, telling him that he โ€œlook[ed] like [he] spoke thug languageโ€ and referring to him as the n-word; made frequent disparaging remarks about Black customers and employeesโ€”calling them โ€œnot smart,โ€ โ€œignorant,โ€ โ€œghetto,โ€ and โ€œriff-raff;โ€ and canceled live music and karaoke events that attracted predominately Black patrons. Because of the persistent racism and lack of a complaint procedure or a human resources department, the general manager was forced to resign.



EEOC Settlements

Florida: ABC Pest Control, Inc. Conciliates Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Charge

Allegations

Pregnancy discrimination; Reasonable Accommodation

Laws Involved

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

State

Florida

Summary

In the charge, an employee alleged that ABC Pest Control fired her after she requested a reasonable accommodation to attend monthly medical appointments for her pregnancy. The termination violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which went into effect on June 27, 2023.

As part of the conciliation agreement, ABC Pest Control will provide $47,480 in damages to the former employee. In addition, the company will appoint an EEO coordinator, revise its employment policies to include making reasonable accommodations under the PWFA, provide training to both management and non-management employees, and provide quarterly reporting on requests for accommodations and complaints of discrimination.


North Carolina: Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc. to Pay $80,000 to Settle EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Suit

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

North Carolina

Summary

According to the EEOCโ€™s lawsuit, for over a year, a female truck driver working at Balfour Beatty was subjected to harassment by several male coworkers. One coworker asked the victim to โ€œtalk dirtyโ€ to him, send pictures of her breasts and sit on his lap. He also sent her sexually explicit text messages. After the victim complained, the coworkerโ€™s conduct escalated. The victim was also subjected to a hostile work environment because she is female. The male coworkers called her sexually derogatory names on a regular basis, told her to โ€œshut the f* up you stupid b**โ€, and told her โ€œThis is a manโ€™s world . . . if you canโ€™t handle it then go work for Walmart.โ€ After the victim complained, she was denied an opportunity for advancement she was expecting and transferred to an undesirable work location.


Washington: Monson Fruit to Pay $250,000 in EEOC Sex Harassment Lawsuit

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Sexual harassment; Retaliation

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

State

Washington

Summary

According to the EEOCโ€™s complaint, a Latina agricultural worker faced sexual harassment including repeated unwelcome advances and requests for sex from a manager in 2019. After she rejected his propositions and reported the conduct, her coworker husband was fired in retaliation, the agency alleged. The lawsuit also said that Monson management failed to act on reports of the harassment.


Washington: Boxlight Settles EEOC Charge Alleging Female Manager Was Intentionally Paid Less Than Male Managers

Allegations

Sex discrimination; Equal pay

Laws Involved

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Equal Pay Act of 1963

State

Washington

Summary

In her charge, the complainant alleged that over a period of several years, she was paid less than her male counterparts despite having duties requiring substantially equal skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions. The EEOCโ€™s investigation confirmed that for at least three years, not only was the complainant paid less for the same work, but that Boxlight knew and allowed the discrimination to continue.


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