Latino Discrimination Claim

Attorneys with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in a July 2, 2009 Press Release that the federal agency sued a nationwide commercial property management company, claiming the company violated federal law by subjecting Hispanic employees to national origin discrimination.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/7-2-09.html .  According to the EEOC’s national origin discrimination lawsuit, a class of Hispanic housekeepers were subjected to a hostile work environment while performing custodial and janitorial duties at the Ceasar’s Palace Forum Shops in Las Vegas.  As stated in the EEOC Press Release, the harassment allegedly began in 2005 when the housekeeping lead shift was hired and ended when he was terminated for reasons related to the harassment.  The lawsuit charges that the housekeeping lead shift referred to housekeepers and other Latino employees as “wetbacks,” “tacos,” and “burritos” and repeatedly told them to “go back to Mexico.”  In addition, the EEOC asserts that he told Latinos that Mexicans have “inferior intelligence and capability in comparison to whites, and that is why whites are in power.”  The alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the EEOC filed the lawsuit after first attempting a voluntary settlement.  An EEOC attorney was quoted in the Press Release as saying that “All workers have the right to work in an environment free of discrimination and daily harassment.”  For further information about the EEOC, see www.eeoc.gov .