Racially Hostile Workplace Lawsuit Settled

In a July 21, 2009 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) Press Release, the federal agency announced that the owners of a Lexington, North Carolina furniture store will pay $80,000.00 and furnish significant injunctive relief to settle a race harassment lawsuit filed by EEOC attorneys.  According to the EEOC Press Release, the race discrimination lawsuit alleged that three black production workers were subjected to a racially hostile work environment at various times between 2004 and August 2006.  In this regard, the EEOC claimed that the three were subjected to racial harassment in the form of racial slurs directed at them and that the racial slurs included references to African Americans as “monkeys,” statements that blacks should “go back and see [their] ancestors in the jungle,” and name-calling, including the use of the “N-word.”  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/7-21-09.html .  The EEOC alleged that the company was aware of the racial harassment and took no action to stop or prevent it.  In this regard, racial harassment violates Title VII of the Civil rights Act of 1964, and the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release stated that racial harassment and other forms of race discrimination continue to exist in our nation’s workplaces and the EEOC will continue to take all steps necessary to eliminate this type of unlawful conduct.  Further information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov .   

Whether unlawful employment related racial harassment occurs in Houston, Texas or elsewhere, victims of a racially hostile work environment may contact the EEOC and an attorney to determine if a race discrimination lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential race harassment claim.