Morton Salt to Pay $75,000 in EEOC Retaliation and Discrimination Lawsuit

Salt Company Employee Faced Discriminatory Treatment Due to His Race and Disability, Federal Agency Charged

CLEVELAND – Morton Salt, Inc. will pay $75,000 and provide other relief to settle a race, disability and retaliation discrimination case filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the affected employee worked for Morton Salt in a labor position in Rittman, Ohio. He was fired and subjected to other unfavorable treatment because of his race (Black), disability, and because he reported alleged discrimination.

Such alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race discrimination and retaliation. The alleged conduct also violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination and retaliation and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities unless it would cause undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Morton Salt, Inc., Case No. 1:24-cv-01689) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

The two-year consent decree settling the suit requires Morton Salt to pay $75,000 in back pay and compensatory damages, and to provide periodic reporting, monitoring and training for its employees to ensure compliance with Title VII and the ADA.

“Title VII prohibits race discrimination and retaliation, and the ADA ensures protection for covered workers,” said Philadelphia District Office Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence. “The EEOC is committed to holding employers accountable for their unlawful conduct.”

For more information on race and disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination and https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-disability-related-resources. More information about retaliation is available at https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. EEOC attorneys in the Philadelphia District also litigate violations of employment laws the agency enforces in Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.

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 about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.