A Houston based concrete company will pay $135,000 to settle a national origin, age and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against its Memphis subsidiary, according to an EEOC press release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/3-11-10b.cfm .  As stated in the press release, EEOC lawyers charged in the employment discrimination lawsuit that company officials harassed and discriminated against a Thai-American employee because of his East Asian national origin and age.  The sales technician was allegedly called “J-p” even though he is of Thai ancestry.  In addition, the EEOC contended that the employee was subjected to insensitive ageist comments and then removed from the sales department and demoted to a driver job because of his age and national origin.  After complaining about the discrimination, he was further harassed, including being assigned to defective trucks, and repeatedly threatened with firing.  Moreover, after the company moved him out of sales, it hired two unqualified white men into that department, without an application process that would have given him the chance to apply for the positions.  The EEOC asserted that the Thai-American employee ultimately resigned when the work environment became too hostile to endure. 

Such alleged misconduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  In this regard, the EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.  Further information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov .

Whether hostile workplace discrimination occurs in Beaumont, Conroe, Houston or elsewhere, victims may contact the EEOC and a lawyer to determine if an employment discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential harassment claim.

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.  In a February 3, 2010 press release found on the internet at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/2-3-10c.cfm , EEOC attorneys announced two settlements against a hotel operator for $500,000 and signficant remedial relief in cases alleging national origin discrimination and sexual harassment.  Both lawsuits were filed in September 2007 under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In the first lawsuit, EEOC attorneys charged that non-Chinese banquet servers were rejected for hire based on their national origin when a San Gabriel Hilton severed its contract and hired Landwin Management, a hotel operator, to operate the establishment in April 2005.  The EEOC claimed that all the non-Chinese banquet servers who previously worked for the hotel at the time, many of whom were Latino, were not hired back during the turnover and were instead replaced with less qualified Chinese workers.

In the second lawsuit, EEOC attorneys charged that the Hotel subjected female employees to a sexually hostile work environment, including verbal sexual harassment by the housekeeping supervisor, who referred to the women as “whores” and “prostitutes” in addition to other offensive language.  The supervisor also allegedly reprimanded the female employees if they even spoke to men, and the operator failed to respond to the employees’ complaints of harassment.

An EEOC attorney involved in the employment discrimination lawsuit commented that “The days when employers make decisions based on stereotypes and assumptions shaped by the race or national origin of their employees should be far behind us.”  Further information about the EEOC and the laws it enforces is available at www.eeoc.gov .

Whether unlawful employment discrimination occurs in Beaumont, Conroe, Houston or elsewhere, employment discrimination victims may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if an employment discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential unlawful workplace discrimination claim.

United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) attorneys announced settlement of an employment discrimination lawsuit against Albertsons, LLC, a national grocery store chain, according to a December 2009 EEOC press release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/12-15-09,cfm .  As stated in the press release, Albertsons, LLC will pay $8.9 million and furnish other relief to settle three employment discrimination lawsuits in which EEOC attorneys charged the company with race, color, and national origin discrimination and retaliation at its Aurora, Colorado distribution center.  The monetary relief will be distributed among 168 former and current employees.

The first lawsuit was filed in 2006 and alleged a pattern or practice of workplace harassment and discrimination based on race, color and national origin.  According to that lawsuit, minority employees were repeatedly subjected to derogatory comments and graffiti, including racial and ethnic slurs, depictions of lynchings, swastikas, and white supremacist and anti-immigrant statements.  Some of the graffiti allegedly remained for years until the restroom was remodeled in 2005.  In the second lawsuit, EEOC attorneys alleged a pattern or practice of retaliation.  A third lawsuit filed in 2008 claimed race discrimination on behalf of a single African American employee at the distribution center who was fired.

An EEOC attorney quoted in the press release said that the graffiti was particularly shocking.  In addition, the attorney commented as follows: “These cases presented the EEOC with some of the most egregious examples of race, color, and national origin discrimination the agency has seen in years.”  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including discrimination based upon race, color and national origin.  Further information about the EEOC may be found at www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether race, color and national origin employment discrimination and retaliation occurs in Conroe, Houston, Texas City or elsewhere, victims of workplace harassment may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a workplace harassment lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential employment discrimination claim.

The United States Department of Justice (”DOJ”) announced in an October 13, 2009 Press Release at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/October/09-crt-1102.html that a Louisiana man pleaded guilty to firing three shots from a shotgun at the home of three Hispanic men and, after they fled, entering the home and setting a fire that burned it to the ground.  The incident occurred in a rural area of western Louisiana, and the man and his victims lived across the street from one another.  According to the Press Release, the man admitted that his crime was motivated by the victims’ race and national origin and was intended to interfere with their right to live in their home.  Sentencing is scheduled for January 13, 2010.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (”EEOC”) Dallas District Office announced in a Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-30-09h.html that a Midland, Texas company will pay $125,000.00 to three former employees to settle a racial and national origin harassment lawsuit filed by EEOC attorneys.  According to the September 30, 2009 EEOC Press Release, agency attorneys filed the harassment lawsuit in a Midland Odessa federal court alleging that the company subjected three white, non-Hispanic employees to a hostile environment.  As stated in the Press Release, EEOC attorneys charged in the discrimination case that the men were subjected to name calling in English and Spanish on the jobsite and when they complained about the harassment, no action was taken.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release said that “Here, it was a Hispanic supervisor and co-workers who subjected non-Hispanics to derogatory comments because of their race.”  In this regard, race and national origin discrimination violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including discrimination based on race and national origin.  Further information about the EEOC is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether employment related race and national origin discrimination occurs in Dallas, Midland, Odessa or elsewhere, workplace discrimination victims may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if an employment discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential harassment discrimination claim.

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (”EEOC”) San Antonio Field Office announced in a Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-29-09m.html that agency attorneys filed a federal national origin discrimination and retaliation lawsuit in San Antonio against a Delaware corporation, alleging that the company violated federal law by firing an Hispanic employee from his position as an executive director of the company’s Kerville, Texas facility because of his national origin and because he reported discriminatory conduct.  According to the September 29, 2009 Press Release, EEOC attorneys charge in the case that the Latino employee was fired shortly after he complained about discriminatory treatment.  Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, and prohibits employers from retaliating against those who complain about such misconduct.  EEOC attorneys filed the discrimination lawsuit in San Antonio after first attempting to reach a voluntary out of court settlement.  A San Antonio EEOC trial attorney was quoted in the Press Release, saying that “This lawsuit serves to remind employers that the EEOC is vigilant in enforcing the law and ensuring that individuals who engage in legally protected opposition are not fired in retaliation.” 

Whether employment discrimination occurs in Kerrville, San Antonio or elsewhere in Texas, victims of employment discrimination may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if an employment discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential claim.

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a September 14, 2009 Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-14-09b.html that the agency filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against a Japanese specialty supermarket alleging that the company discriminated against Hispanic employees by paying them less than non-Hispanic workers, almost all of whom were Asian.  According to the EEOC Press Release, attorneys for the EEOC charge in the lawsuit that the Japanese specialty supermarket has engaged in a pattern or practice of underpaying Hispanics because of their national origin since at least 2005.  National origin discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and, in this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including national origin discrimination.  Agency attorneys seek injunctive relief in the lawsuit as well as back pay and compensatory and punitive damages for the Hispanic discrimination victims.

In a September 9, 2009 Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-9-09a.html , the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced that an oilfield service company based in Alice, Texas will pay $60,000.00 and furnish other relief to settle a race, national origin and retaliation discrimination lawsuit filed by EEOC attorneys in the Southern District of Texas.  According to the EEOC Press Release, agency attorneys charged in the federal lawsuit that the company’s Hispanic supervisors discriminated against a parts department employee because of his race (Caucasian) and national origin (non-Hispanic) and then fired him for complaining.  As stated in the Press Release, the company subjected the employee to harassment, a hostile work environment, and disparate terms and conditions of employment because he is not Latino.  EEOC attorneys claimed as well that the company further violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by unlawfully retaliating against the employee when it allegedly fired him after he complained to Human Resources.  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including race and national origin discrimination.  An EEOC trial attorney was quoted in the lawsuit settlement Press Release as saying “A continuously hostile environment that is permeated with degrading name calling makes it very difficult for anyone to want to come to work.”  Another attorney in the EEOC’s Dallas office added that “Even in rough-and-tumble workplaces like the oilfields, there are effective ways of educating supervisory personnel on how to promote mutual respect between crew members.”  Further information about the EEOC is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov .

Whether employment related race and national origin discrimination occurs in Alice, Corpus Christi, Dallas or elsewhere in Texas, victims of workplace discrimination may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a hostile work environment discrimination lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential discrimination claim.

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including race and national origin discrimination.  In an August 26, 2009 EEOC Press Release, the federal agency announced that a beverage can manufacturer will pay $30,000.00 and provide remedial relief to settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by EEOC attorneys in Alabama.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-26-09e.html .  According to the Press Release, EEOC attorneys charged that an Hispanic electrician at a Birmingham, Alabama plant was treated differently because of his Hispanic race and Mexican national origin.  As stated in the Press Release, the alleged discriminatory conduct took the form of inappropriate statements to the electrician, subjecting him to increased supervisory review, demotion and discipline because of his Hispanic race and Mexican national origin.  Race and national origin discrimination violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  EEOC attorneys filed the discrimination lawsuit after first attempting to reach a voluntary out of court settlement.  Further information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov .

A nationwide freight management company has been sued for allegedly violating federal law by refusing to hire non-Hispanics.  According to an August 12, 2009 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) Press Release, the company engaged in unlawful employment practices from around October 1, 2002 through June 30, 2004 by refusing to hire an entire class of people for non-management positions at a North Carolina facility because of their non-Hispanic national origin.  As stated in the Press Release, the EEOC charged as well that the company hired predominately Latinos to the exclusion of equally or more qualified non-Latinos.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-12-09.html .  EEOC attorneys filed the lawsuit after first attempting to reach a voluntary out of court settlement.  The agency seeks back pay for the discrimination victims, along with compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief.