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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it filed 110 lawsuits challenging unlawful employment discrimination in fiscal year 2024, placing an emphasis on emerging issues and advancing the employment rights of underserved and vulnerable workers.  

“Litigation is only one tool in the EEOC’s toolbox for achieving its mission of preventing and remedying employment discrimination, but it is a tool we will continue to deploy strategically to maximize our impact,”

SEATTLE – A building supply company doing business as Builders FirstSource north of the Seattle area violated federal law when it terminated a qualified worker’s assignment because of his age and the assumption that he had a physical impairment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed Monday.

Assigned by a third-party staffing company, the 67-year-old worker reported for his first day of work as an assembler at Builders FirstSource’s truss

PHOENIX – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed three lawsuits alleging that employers in Arizona, Utah and Wyoming violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allowing sexual harassment to permeate their workplaces. The employers permitted work environments that were illegally hostile toward female employees and, in two of the cases, resulted in physical sexual assault.

“The EEOC continues its mission to protect workers across the spectrum of workplaces under

MIAMI – Divine Boiling Group, LLC, doing business as Crab Knight, a family-style seafood restaurant in Daytona Beach, Florida, will pay $30,000 and other relief to settle an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, over a period of several weeks, the restaurant’s kitchen manager made repeated discriminatory comments about an employee’s age and finding someone younger to replace her, before

CLOVIS, N.M. – Allen Theatres, Inc., which operates a chain of movie theaters across New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, violated federal law when it discriminated against its older employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, Allen Theaters discriminated against Abby Parrish, a manager at the Clovis, New Mexico location, when the president of the company forced him to retire in September 2020, and refused

WASHINGTON – Inova Surgery Center, LLC, which operates outpatient surgery centers in Northern Virginia, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) by firing an employee because of her disability and age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a suit filed today. 

According to the lawsuit, when a 52-year-old radiologic technician requested an extension of her medical leave to recover from carpal tunnel surgery, Inova

CHICAGO – Admiral Theatre, Inc., an exotic dance club providing adult entertainment services, violated federal law by subjecting female dancers to hostile and dangerous work conditions, according to a new lawsuit filed by the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today.

According to the suit, Admiral Theatre allowed the creation of a hostile environment for entertainers, who were exposed to dangerous, harassing, and sometimes violent behavior from club patrons which included grabbing, groping, slapping, and

BUFFALO, NY – Eight related entities operating Boxwood Hotels LLC, Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn hotels in Western New York violated federal law when they fired a transgender housekeeper the day after the housekeeper complained that a supervisor repeatedly misgendered them and made anti-transgender statements, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, during a transgender housekeeper’s first day of work at a Holiday Inn

CHICAGO – Reggio’s Pizza, Inc., which operates restaurants and sells ready-made pizza throughout Chicago, violated federal law when it retaliated against an employee who objected to workplace harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the suit, Reggio’s Pizza fired an employee at its O’Hare Airport location because she complained about harassment. The employee, who is transgender, reported to the company that she believed a manager had

CLEVELAND – The Laurels of Athens, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Athens, Ohio, owned and operated by Laurel Heath Care Company, Athens LTC, Inc., Ciena Healthcare Management, Inc., and Ciena Group, LLC, will pay $150,000 and provide other relief to settle an age and sex discrimination case filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, a physical therapy assistant was fired in 2020 after

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – HCL America, Inc. violated federal law when it refused to hire a qualified, 61-year-old Indian job applicant for a sales director position based on his age and national origin, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, HCL America interviewed an applicant for a sales director position in July 2021. Although the applicant met the job qualifications, the hiring manager emailed the

TRENTON, N.J. – Hatzel & Buehler, Inc., a commercial electrical contractor with branch locations in eight states and the District of Columbia, will pay $500,000 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the company’s New Jersey branch, the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, since at least November 2020, the vice president of Hatzel & Buehler’s New Jersey branch engaged in age discriminatory

ST. LOUIS – Dollar General Stores will pay $295,000 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) age discrimination, harassment, and retaliation lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, from July 2016 until January 2018, a newly hired Dollar General regional director in Oklahoma harassed district managers who were in their 50s and older by calling them “grumpy old men,” telling them he was building “a millennial

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Aged Artisans LLC and Surfeit Group LLC, doing business as Square Barrels, a former Honolulu-based restaurant, and their outsourced human resources company, ALTRES, Inc., doing business as SimplicityHR, have agreed to pay $115,000 and provide other relief to resolve a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Oppor­tunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Aged Artisans’ co-owner targeted gay employees for sexual harassment by

SEATTLE – Columbia River Healthcare Inc., a nursing facility in Vancouver, Washington, that operates under the name The Oaks at Timberline, has agreed to provide monetary and injunctive relief to a former supervisor following an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. 

In a charge filed with EEOC, the former supervisor alleged that after disclosing their gender identity and pronouns to their employer, managers and staff persisted in repeatedly

ATLANTA – Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Smithfield Fresh Meats Sales Corporation (together, “Smithfield Foods”), which operate a food processing business that specializes in pork production, violated federal law when they fired a senior sales employee because of her age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, the employee worked for Smithfield Foods for over 10 years before she was fired at the age of 59

NEW YORK – Maximum Security NYC, Inc., a security company headquartered in Queens, New York, will pay a former employee $22,500 and implement an anti-discrimination policy and training program to resolve an age- and disability-discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today. 

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Maximum Security had given a 57-year-old employee numerous assignments at client hotels where he was responsible for assisting with evacuations

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – J.H.S. Holdings, LLC, and 4Top Hospitality Group, Inc., owners of Amerigo Italian Restaurant, will pay $60,000 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Amerigo’s owners subjected an employee to a hostile work environment and discrimination because of his sexual orientation, and then fired him for complaining about the abusive work environment at

ATLANTA – Covenant Woods Senior Living, LLC and BrightSpace Senior Living, LLC (together, “Covenant Woods”), which operate the Covenant Woods retirement community in Columbus, Georgia, will pay $78,000 to settle an age and disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged in its suit that, in February 2022, Covenant Woods fired a long-tenured receptionist, despite having recognized the 78-year-old employee as one of its

CHICAGO – Urbana School District No. 116 agreed to pay $206,301 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the Urbana School District limited the salary increases of Charles Koplinski and a group of other teachers over the age of 45 because of their age, due to a provision of a collective bargaining agreement between the school district and

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Gregg Orr Auto Collection, Inc., a group of car dealerships, has agreed to pay $325,000 and provide other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit alleging that the Texarkana, Texas-based company fired a senior sales executive to avoid medical costs related to his cancer diagnosis, the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, Greg Orr Auto fired the 65-year-old employee in February 2020 without prior warning and

CLEVELAND – Cedar Fair, L.P., doing business as Cedar Point, and Magnum Management Corporation, which own, operate, and staff the Sandusky, Ohio-based Cedar Point amusement park, will pay $50,000 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Cedar Fair and Magnum provided housing at significantly below-market rates for out-of-town seasonal employees. During Cedar Point’s 2021 and 2022 seasons

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – ADT Pizza, doing business as Pizza Hut, has agreed to pay $13,083.75 in damages and $1,916.25 in backpay to resolve a charge of disability discrimination and harassment filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC investigation found that ADT Pizza discriminated against an employee by subjecting her to unwelcome and derogatory comments by a member of management based on her disability and that she

DALLAS – Amarillo-based dealership Pete’s Car Smart will pay $145,000 and furnish other relief to settle an age and disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, an employee who had been employed with Pete’s Car Smart for nearly 18 years underwent bypass heart surgery in early 2021, requiring a brief medical leave of absence. In the days leading up to her