Westminster Ingleside to Pay $85,000 in EEOC Race and Retaliation Discrimination Lawsuit

WASHINGTON — Westminster Ingleside King Farm Presbyterian Retirement Communities, Inc., a management company operating several retirement and assisted living facilities in the Greater Washington area, will pay $85,000 and furnish other relief to settle a race and retaliation discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, Westminster Ingleside violated federal law when it refused to promote a high-performing black manager to an executive-level position based on her race and then fired her when she complained about the discrimination internally and filed a discrimination charge.

Such alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race and retaliation for complaining about it. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (EEOC v. Westminster Ingleside King Farm Presbyterian Retirement Communities, Inc., No. 8:24-cv-02811) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

In addition to the $85,000 in monetary relief paid to the complainant, the consent decree resolving the litigation prohibits future race discrimination or retaliation and requires the company to take steps to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future. This includes implementation of enhanced non-discrimination and non-retaliation policies, notices to employees about their rights, and advanced training for Westminster Ingleside’s human resources and management officials on the company’s policies and obligations.

“Internal complaints can be early warning signs for employers,” said Debra Lawrence, the EEOC’s regional attorney for the Philadelphia District Office. “They should be treated as an opportunity to proactively correct unlawful conduct or improve workplace policies or practices. What employers should never do is treat complaints as the problem or take adverse action against the complainant.”

Karen McDonough, acting director of the EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office, added, “Even employers that did not actually discriminate in the first instance still violate the law when they retaliate against an employee for making a good faith complaint.”  

For more information about race and color discrimination, please visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination. For more information about retaliation, please visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases 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.