EEOC Investigation Retaliation Lawsuit

The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in an April 26, 2010 news release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/4-26-10.cfm that the Maryland Classified Employees Association (MCEA) union will pay $80,000 to settle a retaliation discrimination lawsuit brought by EEOC attorneys on behalf of a fired MCEA employee.  According to the news release, EEOC attorneys charged in the retaliation discrimination lawsuit that the MCEA fired the employee for her perceived involvement in an EEOC investigation of her employer’s alleged unlawful employment practices, her opposition to practices she believed were discriminatory and her association with another MCEA employee who had filed a charge of discrimination.  In addition, the EEOC alleged that MCEA denied a promotion to the fired employee and subjected her to discriminatory terms and conditions of employment because she filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC against MCEA.

The EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, and retaliation against an employee for protesting employment discrimination or participating in a discrimination charge investigation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  In this regard, EEOC attorneys filed the retaliation discrimination lawsuit after the EEOC first attempted to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement. 

The most frequently filed charges with the EEOC in Fiscal Year 2009 were charges of discrimination based on race, retaliation and sex-based discrimination.  Further information about the EEOC and the federal laws it enforces is available at www.eeoc.gov .