Trebor USA, Colt Truck Care and Wholesale Building Products to Pay Over $215,000 in EEOC Race and National Origin Harassment Lawsuit

MIAMI – Three Florida construction parts and auto mechanic companies have agreed to pay $215,699 and furnish other relief to settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Trebor USA Corp., Colt Truck Care, LLC, and Wholesale Building Products, LLC, subjected Black and Hispanic employees to racial slurs, including supervisors calling employees the “N-word,” “lazy spic,” and “boys.” The EEOC further alleged that the company was aware of the harassment, as one of the supervisors had previously been disciplined for making racist comments in the workplace. Nevertheless, when one of the employees reported the abuse to human resources, he was fired within two weeks, the EEOC said.

This alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects individuals from workplace discrimination and harassment. The EEOC filed suit on Sept. 30, 2024 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (EEOC v. Trebor USA Corp., Case No. 0:24-cv-61817) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

In addition to over $215,000 in damages, the three-year consent decree settling the suit requires the companies to amend their equal employment opportunity policies; conduct training for human resources personnel, management personnel, and all non-supervisory employees; provide reports to the EEOC; and post anti-discrimination notices. In addition, the companies agreed to design an internal audit of the companies’ work assignments to ensure work is not assigned based on national origin and/or race.

“Employers must take reports of harassment seriously,” said Evangeline Hawthorne, district director for the EEOC’s Miami District. “When an employee complains, the law requires employers to thoroughly investigate and take effective action to remedy a hostile work environment.”

EEOC Regional Attorney Kristen Foslid said, “I am very pleased that we were able to negotiate a prompt and successful resolution of this lawsuit. The changes required by the consent decree should ensure that the workplaces will be free of unlawful harassment going forward.”

For more information on race and color 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. For more information on harassment, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/harassment.

The EEOC’s Miami District Office is comprised of the Miami, Tampa and San Juan offices, and has jurisdiction over Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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.