Racially Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit

In a press release at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/2-22-10.cfm , a trial attorney with the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) comments that racial harassment in the workplace will not be tolerated, adding “Discrimination is not a joke - it’s a violation of federal law.”  In this regard, the EEOC’s February 22, 2010 press release announces the filing of a racial harassment lawsuit in which  federal agency attorneys charge that a party rental company violated federal law by subjecting black employees to a racially hostile work environment.  According to the press release, the EEOC lawsuit alleges that a driver and warehouse employee, as well as other African American employees, were repeatedly subjected to unwelcome derogatory racial comments and slurs, including epithets such as the “N-word,” as well as racial jokes, by one of the company owners.  EEOC attorneys further assert in the case that complaints were made but the harassment continued. 

In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including workplace racial harassment.  EEOC attorneys filed the hostile work environment lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Title VII makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of race.  EEOC attorneys filed the racial harassment lawsuit after the EEOC first attempted to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement. 

Whether an employer creates a racially hostile workplace in Beaumont, Conroe, Houston or elsewhere, victims of employment related racial harassment may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a hostile work environment lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential employment discrimination claim.