The U.S. Labor Department has settled a lawsuit in which two Texas companies were accused of not paying $1 million in overtime to 154 workers. Those workers inspected temporary housing trailers occupied by people who lost their homes during 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

Federal labor officials announced Wednesday that Irving, Texas-based Fluor Enterprises Inc. agreed to pay the overtime as part of a consent judgment approved in a Houston federal court. The Labor Department also obtained a default judgment against Houston-based Universal Project Management Inc., a subcontractor used by Fluor. According to court documents, Fluor admitted no wrongdoing in the case, saying it wasn’t the workers’ employer.

Universal Project Management failed to answer the claims against it in court. An attorney for Universal was not listed in court records and no public listing for the company could be found.  Associated Press February 10, 2010.

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced in a January 29, 2010 News Release posted at http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/whd20100073.htm that it has recovered more than $1 million in overtime back wages for 798 former and current processing workers at a poultry processor’s Dallas facility.  According to the DOL News Release, the poultry processing company also agreed to pay for time spent by employees “donning and doffing,” or putting on and taking off work-related gear in all processing plants nationwide.  As stated in the News Release, the agreement marks another major step in the DOL’s poultry initiative, which is aimed at ensuring that the poultry processing industry pays its workers all wages to which they are entitled.  In this regard, the agreement settles allegations that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation failed to properly pay overtime back wages as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The FLSA’s overtime violations occurred allegedly in part because the company failed to pay its employees for all hours worked, including time spent putting on and taking off protective clothing.  Additionally, required recordkeeping was allegedly not maintained.  The DOL’s legal action followed an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division.

For more information about the FLSA, one may call the Wage and Hour Division’s Dallas District Office at 817-861-2150 or the DOL’s toll-free helpline at 866-487-9243.  Information is also made available on the internet at http://www.wagehour.dol.gov . 

Whether overtime wage payment violations occur in Dallas, Corpus Christi, Houston or elsewhere, victims may contact the DOL or an attorney to determine if a wage compensation lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential FLSA violation claim.

The Associated Press reported on October 5, 2009 that a former pharmacist at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. who claimed she was fired after asking to be paid the same as her male colleagues is entitled to $2 million in damages awarded by a jury, according to a ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.  See, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113515362 .  As stated in the article, Cynthia Haddad was fired in 2004 after working more than 10 years for the company, seven of them at a store in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  While the company claimed that Haddad was fired because she left the pharmacy unattended and allowed a technician to use her computer security code to issue prescriptions during her absence, Haddad alleged in her discrimination lawsuit that she was fired because she complained about being paid less than her male counterparts, including a bonus given to pharmacy managers.  It states in the article that the company paid the bonus, and then fired Haddad two weeks later. 

As described in the article, a jury found in 2007 that the company discriminated against Haddad, and awarded her $1 million in compensatory damages and another $1 million in punitive damages, but a judge later revoked the $1 million in punitive damages, finding there was an insufficient basis for the jury’s decision.  However, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reinstated the punitive damages and upheld the total verdict, ruling that the jury had enough evidence to find that the company’s stated motive for the firing was a pretext and that the company acted with “discriminatory animus.”

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) filed a federal lawsuit against a flooring company claiming that the North Carolina based business discriminated against blacks and Hispanics by paying them less than their white counterparts.  According to the EEOC Press Release found at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-15-09.html , the company allegedly discriminated against a black employee and other black and Hispanic employees when it paid them lower wages than white coworkers who performed the same jobs.  As stated in the Press Release, the discriminatory wage payments have occurred since at least March 2006.  Race 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 race related pay or wage discrimination.  An EEOC trial attorney quoted in the Press Release stated that “Under Title VII it is unlawful for an employer to determine employees’ pay based on their race, national origin or other protected class status; therefore, black and Hispanic employees doing the same or similar work should not be paid less than whites.”  Further information about the EEOC is available in the federal agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov .

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a September 3, 2009 Press Release that a building material company has agreed to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by EEOC attorneys for $49,500.00 and other relief on behalf of an African American employee who was allegedly subjected to racial discrimination.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/9-3-09d.html .  As stated in the EEOC Press Release, EEOC attorneys charged that the employee was assigned to less desirable and lower-paying jobs because of his race and that a supervisor responsible for determining job assignments referred to him using racial slurs.  According to the Press Release, the alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release said “An employee’s race should not impact his paycheck.”  The EEOC attorney added “In the current economy, the consequences of discriminatory pay decisions can be especially devastating.”  Another EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release said “We still see egregious instances of racial bias at job sites across the country, as evidenced by this case and many others.”  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including workplace racial bias.  Further information about the EEOC is avaialable in the agency’s website.

Whether workplace racial bias occurs in Baytown, Houston, Port Arthur or elsewhere, victims of race based employment discrimination may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a racial bias lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential racial discrimination case.

The U. S. Department of Labor announced in a recent News Release that a healthcare system company and its affiliated hospitals have agreed to pay 700 employees more than $2.7 million in overtime back wages to resolve an overtime lawsuit.  The lawsuit was brought by the Department of Labor and alleged violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  According to the News Release, the FLSA requires that employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage, and time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 per week.  Further, the Department of Labor stated that the law also requires that employers maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and conditions of employment.  Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis was quoted in the News Release as saying: “We are pleased that the department has succeeded in securing such a substantial amount of back wages for these workers who were not properly paid for overtime they had worked.”   For further information concerning this Department of Labor News Release see http://www.dol.gov/opa/press/esa/esa20090438.htm .

Workers with employment related wage overtime complaints may contact the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division toll free at 866-487-9243 and consult an attorney to determine if an unpaid overtime lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate.

Saying that “sex-based pay discrimination is an unlawful employment practice that will not be tolerated by the EEOC,” an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) attorney announced filing of a wage discrimination lawsuit in which the federal agency alleges that a weight loss center violated federal law by paying two female employees less than a male employee who performed the same duties.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/7-30-09b.html .  According to the EEOC Press Release, the two female employees worked in the position of director of franchise development and a male employee was hired and paid a significantly higher salary in his position as director of franchise development.  As stated in the Press Release, the EEOC’s investigation revealed that there was no significant difference between the duties performed by the male employee and the female employees.  Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and the Equal Pay Act, which protects people against wage discrimination because of sex.  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination and the EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary out of court settlement.  Further information about the EEOC is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov . 

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

Officials in the east Texas town of Paris said Thursday they are preparing for an influx of black separatists and white supremacists at a planned protest next week over the death of a black man who was run over by a truck and dragged. The Lamar County Commissioner’s Court has created designated zones for protesters to help police maintain order Tuesday, the day a rally organized by the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party is scheduled outside the county courthouse.

The protest is the third related to the death of 24-year-old Brandon McClelland, whose mangled body was found Sept. 16 on a country road outside Paris, about 90 miles northeast of Dallas. Authorities estimated McClelland’s body had been dragged more than 70 feet beneath a vehicle.

Two white men, Shannon Finley and Charles Crostley, were charged with murdering McClelland by running him down in Finley’s pickup after the three friends made a late-night beer run from their dry town across state lines to Oklahoma. But a special prosecutor dismissed the charges last month, citing a lack of evidence, and the men were released after more than eight months in jail.

The previous protests by the Panthers and the Nation of Islam were mostly peaceful and resulted in no arrests. But authorities said there were hints of white supremacist groups showing up this time.

“We have some very specific intel that there would be some counter-protestors — white supremacists, KKK, skinheads — who wish to attend,” said Bill Harris, the first assistant county and district attorney for Lamar County.

At the November and June protests, there were a handful of white supremacists led by Rock Banks, a self-professed grand titan of the East Texas Ku Klux Klan. Words flew in June when Banks waded into the crowd holding aloft a patch depicting a Nazi-era Iron Cross. The KKK, the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party are considered hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The racial implications of the McClelland case have reminded some of the murder of James Byrd, a black man who was chained by the ankles to a pickup by three white men and dragged to death in 1998 in the east Texas town of Jasper.

Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville said the protest zones are designed to separate members of the Nation of Islam and the Panthers from white supremacists. Law enforcement officials requested the zones as a proactive step to avoid conflict.

Main Street, which runs along the east side of the courthouse, will serve as a dividing line, Superville said. He said he is trying to balance free speech rights with public safety concerns and the desire to keep open the courthouse. “We are going to preserve the peace,” the judge said. “This place is more like Mayberry than Jasper.” Brenda Cherry, a community activist in Paris who leads the Concerned Citizens for Racial Equality group, called the commissioners’ decision “racist and ignorant.”

“They are trying to stifle us and violate our constitutional rights,” she said.

Associated Press

Minority car dealers are expected to be hit hard as General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC trim their retail networks, undoing years of work by the auto makers to bring more African-Americans, Hispanics and others into the car business. Chrysler on Thursday said it would drop 789 of its 3,200 dealers as part of its bankruptcy restructuring. GM plans to eliminate 2,600 of its more than 6,000 dealers as it reorganizes.

The National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers estimates that 140 of Chrysler’s 170 to 175 minority-owned franchises could be closed, and at least 174 of GM’s 300 minority-owned dealers could shut their doors.

Michal Czerwonka for The Wall Street Journal

Sil Gonzales worried Chrysler would close his dealership in South Gate, Calif. The yellow markings list cars sold recently. The organization said Chrysler’s minority-owned dealerships are at risk because many are small stores that offer only one of the company’s three brands, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. Fewer than half have converted to the company’s “Genesis” format that puts all three makes under one roof, NAMAD said. That compares to the approximately 60% of all Chrysler dealerships that have the three-brand format.

Genesis stores are usually more profitable because they sell and service more vehicles than single-brand dealerships. Chrysler plans to emphasize Genesis dealerships under its reorganization. About 58% of the GM stores run by minority owners sell Pontiacs, Saturns, Saabs or Hummers, NAMAD said — all brands the company plans to phase out or sell.

“We’re more vulnerable,” said NAMAD President Damon Lester. “We were the last ones to come to the table.” Chrysler declined to comment. Dawin Wright, GM’s executive director of dealer development, said GM is trying to put in safety nets to help minority dealers survive. “We share their concern,” he said.

After years of losing market share, GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. have been left with more dealers than they need, especially in metropolitan areas. As a result, their franchises often end up competing with each other for customers and many lose money.

Many minority dealers operate in cramped downtown locations that are less desirable than the spacious suburban auto malls that are now popular, said Mr. Lester and other dealers. Urban franchises typically draw fewer shoppers and carry less inventory for customers to choose among. Both factors tend to limit sales.

Minority dealers often don’t own the land beneath their showrooms, so the monthly rent adds to their costs, Mr. Lester said. And since many borrowed money to get into the business, they sometimes have more debt than family-run dealerships that have been in business for decades. Sil Gonzales, 57 years old, feared his Casa de Gonzales Chrysler-Jeep store in South Gate, Calif., a largely Latino suburb of Los Angeles, would be one of those Chrysler terminates.

When Houston Texas attorney spoke with former African American dealer, Mike Farr, Mr. Farr stated the fianancing for auto purchases makes it tough for the business.

As Chrysler’s troubles have mounted in the past year, his sales have plunged. He’s hoping to sell the six acres of land beneath his store to raise cash to pay off $14 million in debt. But on Thursday he learned from Chrysler that his dealership had been spared. “We were very fortunate,” Mr. Gonzales said.  “Now I’m just concerned for my fellow minority dealers.”

 On Wednesday, a delegation of about 100 dealers, including some minorities, gathered in Washington to lobby Congress to save dealerships from closure. Dealers from Houston traveled as well to Washington.  On Thursday, representatives of the National Auto Dealers Association, along with NAMAD, were scheduled to meet with the White House’s automotive task force, according to an NADA spokesman.

The Big Three car makers first set up programs to help minority and women entrepreneurs get into the dealer business back in the 1970s and ’80s. The idea was both to increase diversity among their retail networks and do a better job appealing to the growing ranks of minority consumers.

Greg Baranco, an African-American, owns a Buick-Pontiac-GMC store in Atlanta and a Mercedes-Benz dealership nearby. He’s been in the business 30 years, but said he has watched how his Pontiac sales plunged after GM announced earlier this year the brand would be eliminated. After selling 20 Pontiacs a month on average, he sold just four in April. Mr. Baranco worries how he will do carrying just GMC and Buick. “Dealers are finding it difficult to maintain those operations with just two brands,” he said.

By ALEX P. KELLOGG (Wallstreet Journal)—Kate Linebaugh contributed to this article.

Attorneys with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a June 17, 2009 EEOC Press Release that an international military contractor will pay $110,000.00 and furnish other relief to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC in Arizona.  According to the EEOC Press Release, agency attorneys charged in the lawsuit that the company discriminated against three female temporary employees by paying them less than male employees who performed the same job duties and by not making them permanent employees.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/6-17-09a.html . 

Whether employment related unequal pay occurs in New Braunfels, San Marcos, San Antonio or elsewhere, victims of pay discrimination may contact the EEOC and an attorney or lawyer to determine if an equal pay lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential pay discrimination claim.