WorkSmart Inc. to Pay $150,000 in EEOC Sex Discrimination Lawsuit

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — WorkSmart, Inc., a staffing agency headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina providing placement services in the southeastern U.S., will pay $150,000 to a class of female employees and provide other relief to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, from Aug. 1, 2020, to Aug. 8, 2023, WorkSmart failed to hire or refer a class of aggrieved females for laborer positions at a facility run by one of its clients because of their sex. The EEOC’s complaint charged that a client told WorkSmart that it would only accept male laborers at the facility and that WorkSmart complied with the discriminatory instruction by failing to refer qualified female candidates.

“Staffing agencies should not comply with discriminatory requests from their clients,” said Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham District. “Federal law clearly prohibits sex-based discrimination in the workplace and staffing agencies are not exempt from compliance with Title VII.”

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. WorkSmart Staffing, LLC, Case No. 4:25-cv-01659) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Acting EEOC Birmingham District Director Linda Sales-Long said, “Employers should remember that Title VII prohibits refusing to hire or assign a worker because of their sex. A staffing agency can also violate Title VII if it complies with a client’s request that is based on unlawful discrimination.”

For more information on sex discrimination, please visit www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-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 also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.