Newsroom

Discrimination Charges Highest in Five Years; Agency Obtains $345 Million for Victims

WASHINGTON  – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received a total of  82,792 private sector discrimination charge filings last fiscal year, the  highest volume of incoming charges since 2002 and the largest annual increase  (9%) since the early 1990s, the agency reported today as part of its Fiscal  Year 2007 enforcement and litigation statistics. The data, available online

EEOC Settles Suit Against Mutual Fund Giant for Firing Black Employee Who Complained About Race Discrimination

PHILADELPHIA —  Valley Forge, Pa.-based The Vanguard Group, Inc., one of the world's largest investment management companies, will pay $500,000 and provide other relief to settle a retaliation lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.  The EEOC had charged that following an African American employee's complaints of race discrimination

Commission Provides Practical Information for Employers and Severely Injured Veterans

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued two question-and-answer (Q&A) guides providing technical assistance for employers and veterans on workplace issues affecting veterans with service-connected disabilities. Both documents are available on the agency’s web site at www.eeoc.gov.

“Injured veterans, like everyone else, deserve the freedom to compete in the workplace on a fair and

Agenda Includes Contracts for Customer Response Function, FEPA Budget

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission  (EEOC) will hold its next open meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 10:30 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

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will hold its next open meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at 2:00 p.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, and
• Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Allocations for State

EEOC Says 19 Year-Old Propositioned by Owner, Kept Against Her Will During Car Ride

HOUSTON — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that a federal district court jury returned a verdict yesterday for the EEOC in the amount of $110,000 against a Houston dry cleaner for sexual harassment.  The EEOC had charged that the owner of Bellair Cleaners, Inc., doing business as Park Avenue Cleaners, Bellair Cleaners, and Your Valet (Park Avenue

EEOC Settles Class Suit for Black Employees at Racially Hostile Workplace

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the settlement of a racial harassment lawsuit for $465,000 and significant remedial relief against Henredon Furniture Industries, Inc. on behalf of African American employees who were subjected to a persistent racially hostile work environment at a furniture plant. 

According to the EEOC, from approximately 1998

Sheet Metal Workers' Local 28 Discriminated Against Blacks and Hispanics for Years, Suit Says

NEW YORK – A federal court has granted final approval for a $6.2 million partial settlement for black and Hispanic sheet metal workers who suffered discrimination by their union, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today. 

The EEOC and the State and City of New York, along with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil

New Report Provides Sobering Statistics and Roadmap for Agencies to Improve Hiring and Advancement

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a comprehensive report addressing strategies to reverse the declining participation rate of federal employees with targeted disabilities.  The full text of the report, Improving the Participation Rate of People with Targeted Disabilities in the Federal Work Force, is available on the EEOC's web site at www.eeoc.gov/federal/report/pwtd.html

WASHINGTON - Jazz great Wynton Marsalis laments that some employers "play a cacophonous tune called discrimination" in one of two video public service announcements that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) unveiled today.

Both 30-second PSAs feature Marsalis and focus on the value of diversity in the workplace and the dangers of discrimination.  The PSAs were produced in cooperation with Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) and shot at JALC's New York facility in October. 

Company's Plant Manager Harassed and Forced Out Hispanic Employees, Federal Agency Says

PORTLAND, Ore. – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that it has resolved its national origin discrimination lawsuit brought against Supreme Corporation and Supreme Northwest LLC for $427,000 and other relief.

The EEOC had charged the Indiana-based automotive manufacturer harassed and subjected seven employees at its Woodburn, Ore., facility to disparate treatment (demotion, discriminatory termination, and/or involuntary

EEOC Says African American Electrician Subjected to 'N-Word' and Threats of Lynching at Worksites Across the Country

HONOLULU -- The  U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a major settlement  of a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Lockheed  Martin, the world’s largest military contractor, for  $2,500,000 and other relief on behalf of an African American electrician who  was subjected to a racially hostile work environment at several job sites  nationwide – including threats

Implementation of Final Rule Ensures Age Bias Law is No Barrier to Employer Insurance

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the publication of a final rule allowing employers that provide retiree health benefits to continue the longstanding practice of coordinating those benefits with Medicare (or comparable state health benefits) without violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The regulation, which safeguards retiree health benefits, was published in today's Federal

EEOC Said Apprenticeship Test Discriminated Against Hundreds of Black Workers

CINCINNATI – Ford Motor Co., along with two related companies and a national union, will pay $1.6 million and provide other remedial relief to a class of nearly 700 African Americans to settle a major race discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC had charged in the litigation that a

WASHINGTON – Reed L. Russell has been sworn in as Legal Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), overseeing internal and external policy guidance for the nation's premier civil rights agency.  Russell, most recently counsel with the Washington office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, was appointed last month by President Bush.

"We are delighted to welcome Reed Russell as EEOC's Legal Counsel," Chair Naomi C. Earp said.  "Reed's professional background, which

EEOC Consent Decree Against Retail Giant Ends Suit for Hiring Bias Against Blacks

MILWAUKEE – U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa today signed a  consent decree ending a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity  Commission (EEOC) against Target Corporation for violating Title VII of the  Civil Rights Act of 1964 by not hiring African Americans in the retail giant’s  District 110 (Milwaukee and Madison, Wisc.) based on their race, and by

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will hold its next open meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 2:00 p.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.
• Non-competitive modification extending the contract for temporary hosting services

Agency Highlights 'Best Practices' for Employers to Prevent Job Discrimination

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued an extensive fact sheet on the application of federal anti-discrimination laws to employer tests and other selection procedures to screen applicants for hire and employees for promotion.  The new technical assistance document is available on the agency's web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/factemployment_procedures.html

The fact sheet describes common types of employer administered tests and selection procedures

EEOC Race Bias Suit On Behalf of African Americans Can Proceed Without Intimidation, Judge Rules

CHICAGO – U.S. Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney of the Federal District Court in Rockford, Ill., issued an order this week largely denying an employer's motion to compel discovery regarding medical and psychological records, arrest records and litigation history of claimants in a discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency

Blackwood Becomes Second EEOC Attorney to Receive ABA Honor

WASHINGTON -- Vincent Blackwood, Assistant General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), will receive the "Federal Labor and Employment Attorney of the Year" award from the American Bar Association (ABA).

Blackwood was selected for the award by the ABA's Labor and Employment Law Section.  This distinguished award recognizes a federal attorney whose professional achievements exemplify excellence of legal work in