Newsroom

Women Rejected for Jobs at Armour Sausage Plant Because of 'Strength Test'

DES MOINES, Iowa – A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's decision that a pre-employment "strength test" discriminated against female applicants for jobs at the Dial Corporation's Armour Star sausage-making plant in Fort Madison, Iowa.  The decision also affirmed the award of approximately $3.3 million to 52 rejected female job applicants.  The case arose from a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal

$2,355,000 Awarded to Three Saleswomen for Sexual Harassment  and Retaliation By Northlake, Ill. Trucking Company

CHICAGO -  A federal court jury this afternoon returned a $2.355 million verdict in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and three saleswomen who experienced sexual harassment and retaliation while employed by The Custom Companies, a Northlake, Ill. trucking company.  The verdicts included punitive damages in the amount of $2.05 million and compensatory damages

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, a former Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), on Monday formally swore in EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp, Vice Chair Leslie E. Silverman, and General Counsel Ronald S. Cooper at the Commission’s downtown Washington headquarters.

Monday’s ceremony marked the EEOC leaders’ official public installations, though they have each been serving for several weeks.  Chair Earp and Vice Chair

Settlement by EEOC and Private Plaintiffs Mandates Systemic Changes

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a major litigation settlement with Tyson Foods for $871,000 on behalf of black workers who alleged that they were racially harassed and retaliated against at a chicken processing plant in Ashland, Alabama.  The three-year consent decree entered today by U.S. District Court Judge Karen O. Bowdre also includes significant injunctive relief that will foster

Federal Agency said Class of Young Women Subjected to Verbal and Physical Sexual Abuse

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A jury in federal district court here has returned a $585,000 verdict in a major sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against a national residential basement waterproofing company on behalf of a class of

Court Says Jury Should Decide Whether Policy was Reasonable or Unlawful

ST. LOUIS – A federal court ruled today in a nationwide lawsuit that Allstate Insurance Company's one-year moratorium on rehiring its former sales agents had an adverse impact on older agents, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced.

Judge E. Richard Webber, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St

Boosts Effort to Increase Number of Federal Employees with Targeted Disabilities

WASHINGTON – Giving greater presence to a pressing – and largely unknown – problem, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today launched a website section on its LEAD Initiative, designed to address the declining number of employees with severe disabilities in the Federal workforce.

The section, on EEOC's website at www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/lead/index.html, offers basic information on the initiative and on the declining number

Honors Best Practices that Promote Fair and Open Competition in the Workplace

WASHINGTON – Naomi C. Earp, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today launched the EEOC's third annual Freedom to Compete Award application process, announcing that the agency will accept nominations through Dec. 13.  The Chair will present the award in June 2007 to employers, organizations, or other entities that have demonstrated results through best practices in promoting

High Court Denies Sidley's Petition for Certiorari and Seventh Circuit Decision Confirming EEOC's Ability to Seek Money, Reinstatement for Affected Partners Is Left Standing

WASHINGTON  - In a closely watched case brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the international law firm of Sidley Austin Brown

At Issue: Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodation for Medical Leave

BALTIMORE -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it filed a federal discrimination lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) against Denny's, Inc., which operates more than 500 corporate-owned restaurants in 30 states, on behalf of disabled employees nationwide who were not provided reasonable accommodation and were fired after being denied medical leave needed in connection with their disabilities.

WASHINGTON – Leslie E. Silverman, a veteran Member of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), has formally taken office as EEOC Vice Chair, the EEOC announced today.  President George W. Bush designated Ms. Silverman as Vice Chair earlier this month.  She has been serving as an EEOC Commissioner since March 7, 2002. 

"I am honored to serve in this new role at the EEOC," Vice Chair Silverman said. 

Record Number of Workforce Surveys Expected by EEOC

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity  Commission (EEOC) today urged the employer community to send in the annual  EEO-1 Report to meet the fast approaching Sept. 30 deadline, as required by  federal law. EEOC anticipates receiving  a record number of EEO-1 Reports from employers nationwide in 2006.

The EEO-1  Report – formally known as the “Employer Information Report” – is a government  survey requiring many

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush last week designated Naomi Churchill Earp as Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  Chair Earp, who officially took office on Sept. 1., succeeds Cari M. Dominguez, who stepped down after serving a full five-year term.

Between April 2003 and Sept. 1, 2006, Ms. Earp served as Vice Chair of EEOC.  During that time, she created and launched the EEOC's Youth@Work

Commission to Review Process of Investigating Federal EEO Complaints

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will hold its next meeting on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 9:30 a.m. (Eastern Time), at agency headquarters, 1801 L Street, N.W.  In accordance with the Sunshine Act, the meeting is open for public observation of the Commission’s deliberations.  During the meeting, the following matters are scheduled for consideration:

 
• Announcement of Notation Votes
 
• Federal Sector

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a consent decree to resolve religious discrimination lawsuits filed against the state of Ohio; the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; the Ohio Department of Administrative Services; and the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, AFSCME, Local 11, AFL-CIO.  The lawsuits alleged that the state defendants and the union violated federal employment discrimination laws by failing to respect the rights of employees with

$940,000 Settlement To Be Shared Among Class of African Americans and Women Denied Hire

CLEVELAND – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced Friday that it had resolved its lawsuit charging that S & Z Tool & Die Co. discriminated against African American and female applicants in hiring due to their race and sex.

The lawsuit (Case No. 1:03CV2023) was filed in September 2003 under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and

EEOC Presented Evidence That Retail Giant Failed to Hire Four African Americans in Milwaukee Stores Because of Race

CHICAGO – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago has reversed a lower federal court in Milwaukee and ruled that an U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) race discrimination suit against the giant retailer Target Corporation should go to trial.  The appeals court found that the EEOC had presented sufficient

EEOC Secures Ruling in Minnesota Sexual Harassment Case Against Perkins Restaurant & Bakery

CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that it has secured another federal court ruling sharply limiting the ability of employers sued for harassment and other forms of employment discrimination to make an issue of the victims' immigration status. 

Judge John R. Tunheim of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota wrote in the

Latest EEOC Settlement on Issue of Discriminatory Early-Retirement Plans

MINNEAPOLIS – Independent School District No. 834 of Stillwater, Minnesota (Stillwater School District), will pay more than $1 million to former school district employees under a consent judgment resolving an age bias lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

EEOC has brought a total of 12 age discrimination lawsuits against Minnesota school districts because of their

WASHINGTON -- Cari M. Dominguez, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today announced the authorization of the most extensive one-time hiring of field staff during the five years of her tenure at the federal agency. 

EEOC's Office of General Counsel and Office of Field Programs have been given the go-ahead to hire 70 new staff for front-line field office positions. This group of