The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has settled four cases and filed yet another pregnancy discrimination case. A sheet metal contractor will pay $215,000 to settle a gender discrimination suit, an environmental remediation services contractor settled a class race and gender discrimination suit for $415,000 and a grocery wholesaler and manufacturer agreed to pay $735,000 to settle a race discrimination suit.
Title VII: Gender and Pregnancy Discrimination
Gender discrimination is disparate treatment based upon a person’s gender. Title VII makes all gender discrimination in the workplace illegal, including gender biased decisions in hiring, firing and promotion. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act was added to Title VII in 1978 to ensure that pregnant women were not treated unfairly in the workplace. The PDA also protects against discrimination against women who may become pregnant. The following are recent cases involving gender and pregnancy discrimination.
Sheet Metal Contractor Settles Gender Discrimination Suit for $215K
Construction contractor Vamco Sheet Metals, Inc. agreed to pay $215,000 to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit brought on by four former employees. During the John Jay College of Criminal Justice expansion in Manhattan from 2009 to 2011, female sheet metal workers were treated unfavorably compared to their male counterparts, according to EEOC. Female workers were fired for pretextual reasons, assigned unskilled tasks such as delivering coffee and were monitored during breaks. One employee claimed she was denied a clean, private place to pump breast milk.
In addition to the $215,000 in damages, the three-year consent decree requires the company to revise its policies to provide equal opportunities, distribute them to employees and post notice of the lawsuit resolution. The company also must provide annual anti-discrimination training for its supervisors.
Michigan Restaurant Sued for Pregnancy Discrimination
Restaurant Crooked Creek Bar and Grille refused to hire a food server applicant because she was pregnant, alleges EEOC’s lawsuit. The applicant had prior experience working in a restaurant and made it through the first round of interviews, but when she revealed her pregnancy in her second interview, the restaurant no longer considered her for the position.
EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief to prevent future pregnancy discrimination.
Title VII: Race Discrimination
Title VII makes discriminatory behavior based on race illegal in the workplace. Race discrimination is disparate treatment based upon immutable characteristics associated with race, including skin color, hair texture or certain facial features, even though all members of a race do not share the same characteristics. The following are recent cases involving race discrimination.
Contractor Will Pay $415,000 to Settle Class Race and Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
Environmental remediation services contractor ACM Services, Inc. settled a class race and gender discrimination lawsuit for $415,000. ACM used only word-of-mouth recruitment practices for field laborer positions, intending to avoid hiring black applicants, according to the lawsuit. ACM also refused to hire black and female applicants for field laborer positions and failed to keep employment applications.
In addition, ACM allegedly subjected two Hispanic female workers to gender, national origin and race discrimination, as well as retaliated against them for opposing the harassment and discrimination. The lawsuit also claims that one of these female workers was harassed because of her association with black people.
The three-year consent decree provides $305,000 in monetary relief for the class of people who were not hired or recruited because of race or gender and $110,000 for the two female employees. ACM must implement numerical hiring goals for black and female applicants, conduct self-assessments of hiring practices to bring them into compliance with the consent decree, pay for the advertising of the class claims process and submit reports to EEOC.
Grocery Wholesaler Will Pay $735,000 to settle Race Discrimination Lawsuit
Battaglia, a Chicago grocery wholesaler and manufacturer, will pay $735,000 to settle an EEOC race discrimination lawsuit. The company allegedly allowed a racially hostile workplace directed toward black dock workers. The workers were subjected to racial slurs by coworkers and managers and management failed to act on employee complaints, according to EEOC.
Battaglia will pay $735,000 to a group of current and former black employees, provide anti-discrimination training to its managers and report any complaints to EEOC, as well as other data to prove it has not retaliated against employees involved in the lawsuit.