Seward and Son to Pay $150,000 in EEOC Race and National Origin Discrimination Lawsuit

JACKSON, Miss. – Seward and Son Planting Company, a farming operation with 22,000 acres of corn, soybeans and cotton in Louise, Mississippi, will pay $150,000 and implement policy changes via a three-year consent decree to settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, starting Dec. 1, 2020, Seward and Son began hiring immigrant agricultural workers from a foreign country to supplement its existing workforce, which consisted of primarily black farm workers of American national origin. The EEOC alleged that Seward and Son discriminated against its American workers by providing the foreign workers with preferential job assignments which were less strenuous, and had more work hours, higher pay, and higher bonuses.

“Federal law prohibits employers from favoring employees in compensation or preferred work assignments based on their race or national origin,” said EEOC Birmingham District Director Bradley Anderson. “The EEOC is committed to ensuring employers treat their employees equally in all terms and conditions of employment.”

This alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals with respect to compensation or terms or conditions of employment on the basis of race or national origin. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Seward and Son, Case No. 4:25-cv-00155) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi after its Jackson Area Office completed an investigation and first attempted to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its voluntary conciliation process.

Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham District, said, “We commend Seward and Son for its cooperation in early resolution of this lawsuit and undertaking measures to ensure that its employees are not treated differently based on their race and national origin in the future.”

In addition to monetary damages for the class of black American farm laborers, the decree requires that Seward and Son review, revise as necessary, and disseminate its anti-discrimination policy instructing employees about their rights and how to report discrimination or retaliation. The decree also requires Seward and Son to annually train its managers and employees on discrimination and retaliation and provides other injunctive relief against the company to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future.

For more information on race discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination. For more information on national origin discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination.

The EEOC’s Birmingham District Office has jurisdiction over Alabama, Mississippi (except 17 northern counties) and the Florida Panhandle.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.