El Paso Texas Race Discrimination Lawsuit

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) attorneys announced in a July 24, 2009 Press Release that a janitorial company has agreed to pay $46,000.00 and furnish other relief to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC in El Paso, Texas.  According to the EEOC Press Release, the janitorial company violated federal law when it allegedly fired a janitor because he is African American.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/7-24-09.html .  The EEOC stated that during the course of the lawsuit it obtained a sworn affidavit from a witness who heard a supervisor express discriminatory intentions toward the janitor.  In this regard, this witness allegedly observed the supervisor’s harsh discriminatory use of profanity and the “N-word” when he described all blacks as “lazy.”  According to the witness, the supervisor went on to say he would “get rid” of the janitor, assuming that because the janitor is African American, he must have been the one to tamper with a time clock.  An EEOC trial attorney quoted in the Press Release said that “If a supervisor fires an employee because of race, it is the company, rather than the supervisor, which must pay for that illegal conduct.” 

The EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.  In Fiscal Year 2008, the EEOC received 33,937 charges alleging race discrimination, representing approximately 35 percent of all charges that year.  Additional information about the EEOC is available in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether workplace race discrimination occurs in El Paso or elsewhere, victims of employment related racial discrimination may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a race discrimination lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential race discrimination claim.