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CHICAGO— Advocate Aurora Health, an Illinois-based hospital system, violated federal law when it refused to accommodate a nurse’s religious beliefs and fired her for failing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that in 2021, Advocate Health implemented a policy mandating that all employees receive a COVID-19 vaccination unless they were granted an exemption because of their religious beliefs. A

CHICAGO – Anthony Roofing Tecta America LLC and Tecta America Corporation, roofing services providers in Illinois and nationwide, violated federal law when they subjected African American and female employees of their Aurora, Illinois location to race and sex harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, one of Anthony Roofing’s vice presidents racially harassed an employee, which included repeatedly calling the employee the N-word

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – WorkSmart Staffing, LLC, a regional staffing agency in the southeastern United States headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, violated federal law by discriminating against a class of females when it failed to hire or refer them to available positions, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, from Aug. 1, 2020 to Aug. 8, 2023, WorkSmart failed to hire or refer a class

CHICAGO —The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that following an investigation, the agency and Jewel Food Stores, Inc and American Drug Stores LLC (Jewel-Osco) entered into a voluntary, good-faith agreement in which Jewel-Osco agreed to pay $1.95 million in monetary relief to a group of affected individuals and to provide other non-monetary relief such as state-of-the-art disability training for management and policy revisions.

The agreement resolves charges filed with the EEOC alleging

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc., a nationwide restaurant operator, agreed to pay $80,000 to a job applicant who alleged he was not hired because of his request for a religious accommodation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

According to the EEOC’s charge investigation, during the interview process in August 2024 with the P.F. Chang’s location in Birmingham, the applicant requested Sundays off because of his religious beliefs. The EEOC’s

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sanmina Corporation, a global provider of electronics contract manufacturing services, will pay $77,500 and provide other relief to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The EEOC’s suit charged Sanmina with discriminating against a long-time employee at its Huntsville, Alabama facility who suffered from osteoarthritis and other health conditions. Her conditions made walking across Sanmina’s large parking lot, which lacked

CHICAGO – Sunnybrook Union, a labor union representing teachers and educational support staff in the Sunnybrook School District in Lansing, Illinois, will pay $110,000 and provide other relief to settle a race discrimination case filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a black man who worked as a custodian for Sunnybrook School District 171, was denied a promotion on the base of his

CHICAGO – Mercyhealth, a health care system operating hospitals and clinics in Illinois and Wisconsin, agreed to pay more than $1 million in monetary relief to a class of employees and has offered to reinstate employees that it terminated for refusing to comply with the organization’s COVID-19 vaccine policy.  The settlement follows an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The agency’s investigation found reasonable cause to believe that Mercyhealth discriminated against employees

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sarafina Network, LLC, a management company for gas station convenience stores based in Alabama, will pay $40,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, store managers, employees and customers routinely mocked a neuro-divergent cashier with eye problems, anxiety, and a seizure disorder. The lawsuit further charged that after receiving complaints

CHICAGO – Silver Cross Hospital, based in New Lenox, Illinois, violated federal law when it failed to provide a reasonable accommodation to employees who requested to be exempt from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine because of religious and disability reasons, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in two lawsuits filed today.

One employee, who worked in the hospital’s lab, requested a religious accommodation because taking the COVID-19 vaccine conflicted with her religious beliefs and

MINNEAPOLIS — The Mayo Clinic, which operates hospitals in Minnesota, Arizona and Florida, violated federal law when it refused to grant a security guard’s request for a reasonable religious accommodation to its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, and instead threatened to fire the employee, effectively forcing him to receive the vaccine and violate his conscience and religious beliefs to save his job, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Delaware-based vehicle manufacturer Polaris Industries, Inc. will pay $55,000 and provide other injunctive relief to settle charges of pregnancy discrimination in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in connection with practices at Polaris’s Huntsville, Alabama facility, the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Polaris penalized an employee for pregnancy-related absences and medical appointments. The company also required her to work mandatory overtime despite direction

CHICAGO – Omni Hotels Management Corporation, an international hotel chain company headquartered in Dallas, violated federal law at its Michigan Avenue location in Chicago when it discriminated against an employee by denying his request to not work on Sundays due to his religion, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. The suit also alleged that Omni retaliated against the employee for requesting an accommodation by substantially reducing his hours

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — QSR Pita USA Inc., which manages Pita Pit restaurants, violated federal law when it fired an employee of the Pita Pit in Sioux Falls after she disclosed her pregnancy and request for an accommodation for pregnancy-related nausea, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee informed her employer of her pregnancy and requested to continue working from home and

CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it has filed an action in federal court to enforce a subpoena that it issued during its investigation into claims that Mauser Packaging Solutions engaged in illegal hiring practices, including limiting, segregating, or classifying applicants by race, national origin, or sex for various Mauser facilities, primarily in the Chicagoland area.

Mauser is an international manufacturer of rigid packaging, headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois

MINNEAPOLIS – The St. Cloud Area Family YMCA will pay $140,000 and provide other relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged in its suit that the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA subjected female employees, including two teenagers, to sexual harassment by one of its managers. The manager repeatedly propositioned one of the employees for sex, made unwelcome sexual

WEST FARGO, N.D. – Mail Hauler Trucking, LLC., which delivers mail for the United States Postal Service in North Dakota and South Dakota, will pay $45,000 and provide other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) disability discrimination lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC’s suit charged that Mail Hauler Trucking fired an employee because of his disability and/or because the company regarded him as disabled. The employee has a physical

CHICAGO – Alliance Ground International, Inc. (AGI), a Miami-based air cargo and logistics company, will pay $70,000 and provide additional relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, AGI refused to hire a qualified deaf applicant because of his disability and failed to consider any reasonable workplace accommodations. The applicant, who sought a mail agent position at

CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued R&L Carriers Shared Services, LLC, a freight transportation and logistics company, to enforce a subpoena that the EEOC issued during their investigation of a sex and pregnancy discrimination charge, the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC is investigating a charge of discrimination filed by a driver working for R&L Carriers in Matteson, Illinois. The driver alleges that R&L Carriers discriminated against her based on her

CHICAGO – Greif, Inc., an international manufacturing company, and American Flange, its wholly owned subsidiary operating in the western suburbs of Chicago, will pay $40,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

In the suit, the EEOC alleged that American Flange and Greif fired an employee with two absences that were sparked by a seizure disorder, even though

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Security Engineers, Inc., a contract security solutions provider headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, will pay $1.6 million and provide other relief to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Security Engineers engaged in sex discrimination throughout Alabama when the company denied security officer jobs and assignments to a class of women, beginning in at

FRESNO, Calif. – The Washington Unified School District, located in Fresno, Calif., settled a federal charge of age discrimination filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for $17,000 and other injunctive relief, the federal agency announced today.

An EEOC charge of discrimination was filed in April 2022, alleging that the employee was denied reasonable accommodation, subjected to different terms and conditions of employment, and finally discharged because of age and disability. The EEOC

CHICAGO – The Timken Company, a manufacturer of rod end and spherical bearings, has agreed to pay $55,000 and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Timken rescinded a job offer to a qualified applicant, an engineer with decades of manufacturing experience, because he is hard of hearing. The company and one of its