Memphis Race Discrimination Lawsuit Settled

Lawyers with the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Memphis Office have resolved a Memphis race discrimination lawsuit against Memphis Goodwill Industries, Inc., a non-profit agency. In an EEOC Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/1-22-10.cfm , the federal agency announced that the company will pay $105,000 to settle a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit in which EEOC lawyers charged the company with firing a transportation director in retaliation for reporting alleged race discrimination and because of her race, black.  As stated in the January 22, 2010 Press Release, the EEOC also alleged that the vice president of operations chastised a group of African Americans by stating, “This is not the ghetto.”  When the former transportation director complained to the vice president of operations, she received her first written reprimand from him within days and after receiving a second write-up less than 30 days later she was fired.  According to the EEOC Press Release, a white male was hired as manager of transportation after the firing.  An EEOC lawyer in Memphis was quoted in the Press Release as stating, in part, that “Employees must be able to complain about practices which they believe violate the law without fear of retribution.”

In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including racial discrimination and retaliation for reporting it.  More information about the EEOC is available in its website at www.eeoc.gov .