Employment Law Information

Archive for April, 2009

Company Fired Female Worker Based on Gender, Federal Agency Says
PRESS RELEASE
4-23-09

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Garner, N.C.-based engineering and design company will pay $10,250 and furnish other relief to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that Tyndall Engineering and Design, P.A. disciplined workers in a discriminatory fashion based on gender when it fired a female employee at its Raleigh facility after she returned from a leave of absence, while not firing men in similar situations.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Tyndall fired Jaime Senter when she did not provide medical documentation for her leave of absence. However, Tyndall previously allowed a similarly situated male employee to take a leave of absence without providing any medical documentation, and he was not fired.  Read the rest of this entry »

Panelists Discuss Importance of Caregiver-Friendly Policies During Recession
PRESS RELEASE
4-22-09

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a document on best practices to avoid discrimination against workers with caregiving responsibilities, and held a public meeting to discuss the importance of policies that protect caregivers in an economic downturn.

The technical assistance document, Employer Best Practices for Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities, is available online at http://www.eeoc/policy/docs/caregiver-best-practices.html. The best practices document supplements Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities, a guidance document issued by the Commission in 2007. The 2007 guidance, available online at http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/caregiving.html, examines how federal anti-discrimination laws apply to workers with caregiving responsibilities.  Read the rest of this entry »

Supervisor on Road Construction Crew Harassed Two Women, Federal Agency Charges

PRESS RELEASE
4-1-09

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., which engages in business activities related to road construction, violated federal law by subjecting a class of women to sexual harassment and firing one woman for complaining about it, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

In its suit, the EEOC said that a supervisor employed by Fisher subjected Melony Encinias and a class of women working on a highway project near Mora, N.M., to sexual harassment, including a barrage of sexual comments and innuendo creating a hostile work environment. The agency also charged that Encinias suffered retaliation because she opposed the supervisor’s unwelcome conduct and was forced to resign because of the harassment, retaliation, and the employer’s failure to provide appropriate preventive or remedial relief.  Read the rest of this entry »

Company Failed to Provide Interpreter for Hearing-Impaired Employee, Federal Agency Charges

PRESS RELEASE
4-16-09

MIAMI — The Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation, Inc. (FINR) violated federal law when it denied a job to a hearing-impaired person because of her disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed yesterday.

The EEOC’s suit, Case No. 8:09cv716-T23MAP, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Tampa Division), said FINR refused to provide an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter to assist a female housekeeping worker through her training period. As a result, the EEOC said, she could not complete the training and lost the job.

Disability discrimination violates the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees’ disabilities as long as this does not pose an undue hardship on the business.  Read the rest of this entry »

EEOC Says Company to Pay $20,000 for Firing Expectant Mother

PRESS RELEASE
4-17-09

LITTLE ROCK – A North Little Rock, Ark.-based third-party receivables management company for health clubs will pay $20,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The EEOC’s suit (Civil Action No. 4:08-CV-2816, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, at Little Rock) charged that ABC Financial Services fired Reshma Bandaru because she was pregnant. According to the EEOC, Bandaru was hired as a data entry clerk and placed into a four-week training program at the company’s Sherwood facility. After the training, employees were required to take a test. Approximately one week after Bandaru began the training, she was hospitalized for a condition unrelated to her pregnancy and missed a day and a half of the training. Thereafter, the company fired her because she had missed work and would need further leave to have her baby.  Read the rest of this entry »

Hispanic, Black Employees Subjected to Racial and Ethnic Slurs, Agency Charged

PRESS RELEASE
4-16-09

MIAMI – National department store Nordstrom, Inc. will pay $292,500 to 10 former employees and furnish other remedial measures to settle a harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. EEOC had charged that the department store manager harassed Hispanic and black employees based on their national origin, race, and color, and retaliated against those who complained about the harassment.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, an alterations department manager complained that she “hate[d] Hispanics,” and that Hispanics were “lazy” and “ignorant.” Hispanic tailors were chastised by the alterations manager for speaking to each other in Spanish. The same manager made other derogatory remarks such as “I don’t like blacks” and “you’re black, you stink.” The alterations manager harassed the alterations staff at Nordstrom stores in Palm Beach Gardens and Wellington, Fla.  Read the rest of this entry »

Nursing Home Companies Imposed English-Only Rule on Spanish Speakers While Permitting Other Foreign Languages in Workplace, EEOC Alleged

PRESS RELEASE
4-14-09

LOS ANGELES – Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc., Skilled Healthcare, LLC, and other affiliated companies, will pay up to $450,000 and provide significant remedial relief to a class of Hispanic employees at its nursing homes and assisted living facilities who were subject to harassment, different terms and conditions of employment, promotion, compensation, and treatment through the implementation of an English-only rule that was only enforced against Hispanics, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

The EEOC filed suit in 2005 against the defendant companies alleging national origin discrimination on behalf of Hispanics under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, which approved the three-year consent decree settling the matter.  Read the rest of this entry »

EEOC Prevails in Case Involving Physical and Verbal Abuse of Glassblowers

PRESS RELEASE
4-13-09

PHOENIX – A federal district court today entered a Federal Court Judgment for over $267,000 and significant injunctive relief in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a discrimination lawsuit against Sunfire Glass, Inc. The EEOC’s suit charged that the company’s owner subjected a class of female employees to severe physical and verbal sexual harassment in violation of federal law.

Judge Lawrence O. Anderson found that Sunfire owner Paul McBride sexually harassed two female glassblowers by touching the women on their breasts and between their legs, hitting the women on the buttocks, making obscene gestures, and verbally harassing the women by talking about their bodies and using vulgar language.  At times, the court also found McBride would touch the women while they were working with hot glass and were unable to defend themselves against McBride’s advances.  The two women, Tineke Meyer and Karina Mercado, complained repeatedly to management, and no action was taken.  As a result of the abuse, both Meyer and Mercado were forced to resign.  Read the rest of this entry »

EEOC Says Restaurant Denied Job to Applicant Because of Speech Impediment

PRESS RELEASE
4-13-09

NEW ORLEANS – A New Iberia, La.-based Sonic restaurant franchisee violated federal law by discriminating against an applicant because of her disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, in October 2006, Gravlee’s Sonic of New Iberia, Inc., doing business as Sonic Drive-In, denied Shanna Proctor employment as a car hop or cook because of her disability, a speech impediment. 

Disability discrimination, including the refusal to hire an applicant because of an actual or perceived disability, violates the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit (Civil Action No. 6:09-cv-00603) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division, after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement. The EEOC is seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting the company from engaging in disability discrimination, as well as back pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages.  Read the rest of this entry »

Federal Agency Says Historically Black College Discriminated Against Three White Faculty Members Based on Race

PRESS RELEASE
4-8-09

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Benedict College discriminated against three white faculty members because of their race in 2005, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. The lawsuit was filed along with a consent decree resolving the case. Benedict College is a private historically black college located in Columbia, S.C. According to its web site, Benedict College has over 2,500 under­graduate students.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, Benedict College discriminated against Argiri Aggelopoulou, an art instructor, by failing to select her for an assistant professor of art position in February 2005. The EEOC’s complaint further alleges that the college discriminated against Aggelopoulou, Michael Hale, an assistant professor of art, and a third faculty member from Benedict’s School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, by failing to renew their teaching contracts for the 2005-2006 school year, effectively terminating them.  Read the rest of this entry »