Republic Services to Pay $200,000 in EEOC Sex Discrimination Lawsuit

ST. LOUIS – Allied Services, LLC, doing business as Allied Waste Services of the Ozarks / Republic Services of the Ozarks, which provides waste management services nationwide, will pay $200,000 to settle a sex discrimination in hiring lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, in May 2020, Jamie Mendoza applied to work for Republic Services as a garbage truck driver based out of Springfield, Missouri. Company managers told Mendoza during her interview that female drivers had not worked out in the past, and she should carefully consider whether she wanted the position because Republic Services would have to build a locker room with a shower for female drivers if she were hired. The EEOC alleged that when Mendoza followed up and indicated she wanted the job, the company rejected her application and hired a less-qualified male for the position.

The company did not have any female drivers at the time. The suit also alleged that since at least March 2020, Republic Services routinely failed to hire qualified female applicants for driver positions because of their sex.

“When employers make hiring decisions based on sex, rather than qualifications, both the employer and the applicants suffer,” said Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney for the EEOC’s St. Louis District. “The EEOC is committed to enforcing the law to ensure that applicants are not shut out from particular jobs or industries because of their sex.”

This alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Allied Services, LLC, d/b/a Allied Waste Services of the Ozarks / Republic Services of the Ozarks, Case No. 23-3308-MDH) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

David S. Davis, district director for the EEOC’s St. Louis District Office, said, “Every worker deserves a fair shot at a job regardless of their sex. The EEOC will continue to protect workers from unlawful sex discrimination.”

For more information on sex discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination.

The EEOC’s St. Louis District Office has jurisdiction over Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and a portion of southern Illinois.

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.