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WASHINGTON -- Melinda C. Dugas has been appointed Regional Attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District Office, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

Dugas brings with her nearly two decades of litigation and appellate experience, and has a comprehensive understanding of employment law, having represented employees and employers in discrimination matters, and having advised employers in the development of lawful workplace policies. 

Prior to joining the EEOC, Dugas served for eight years as

TAMPA, Fla. – Aspire Health Partners, a non-profit behavioral health care organization head­quartered in Orlando, Florida, will pay $115,000 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.

According to the EEOC’s suit, the employee worked for Aspire for over 20 years, during which she developed and oversaw Aspire’s Village House Program, a community-based prevention program for youth in Orange

Raleigh, N.C. – Liberty Support Services, Inc., a Raleigh-based North Carolina corporation that maintains state-owned rest areas through contracts with the North Carolina Department of Trans­portation, will pay $39,139 and provide other relief to settle an age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Emp­loyment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC had charged that Liberty Support violated federal law when it fired or refused to rehire four rest area attendants employed

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Department store chain Dillard’s, Inc. will pay $900,000, revise itsjobposting process, and furnish other relief to settle an EEOC lawsuit charging failure to promote African American employees based on race, the federal agency announced today.

According to EEOC’s lawsuit, Dillard’s, which is headquartered in Little Rock, failed to post supervisory and management positions at its retail locations nationwide and failed to promote African American employees into those positions.

Such alleged conduct

RALEIGH, N.C. – Thompson Construction Group, Inc., a heavy industrial contractor based in Sumter, S.C., will pay $115,000 and provide other relief to settle a race dis­crimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC had charged that Thompson Construction Group violated federal law when it fired an African American employee because of his race. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee worked as a pipefitter

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Frito-Lay, Inc., a Plano, Texas-based subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures and distributes snack foods, violated federal law when it fired a newly promoted route sales representative because he could not train for the position on Saturdays due to his religious beliefs, the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a West Palm Beach Frito-Lay warehouse employee applied for and received

ORLANDO, Fla. – Rural/Metro Corporation of Florida, doing business as American Medical Response (AMR), a Florida company that provides emergency and non-emergency medical transport in the Orlando area, violated federal law by refusing to accommodate an employee with a pregnancy-related disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, the employee worked for AMR as an emergency medical technician when she was pregnant. When the

TAMPA, Fla. – Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., an international restaurant chain, violated federal law when a Tampa location service manager was sexually harassed by a coworker and fired in retaliation for complaining about it, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a Chipotle crew person repeatedly made sexually offensive remarks and inappropriately touched the service manager. The conduct escalated into two sexual assaults on

TAMPA, Fla. – Aspire Health Partners, a non-profit behavioral healthcare organization head­quartered in Orlando, Fla., violated federal law by refusing to hire a former employee based upon medical records in her workers’ compensation claim file, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, the employee worked for Aspire for over 20 years, during which she developed and oversaw Aspire’s Village House program and received numerous

ORLANDO, Fla. – Chalfont & Associates Group, Inc., owner of 11 McDonald’s restaurants in the Greater Orlando Central Florida area, has agreed to pay $69,555 and furnish other relief to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to EEOC’s lawsuit, McDonald’s refused to hire a Jewish applicant as a part-time maintenance worker because, due to his religious practices, he would not shave

Raleigh, N.C. – Sactacular Holdings, LLC, doing business as Adam & Eve, an adult retail store, will pay $35,000 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.

The EEOC’s complaint charged that a male applied for a job at Sactacular Holding’s Adam & Eve store on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh, N.C. According to the EEOC’s complaint, a female salesperson

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Par Ventures, Inc., a North Carolina corporation which operates a chain of seven McDonald’s fast food restaurants, will pay $12,500 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 had charged that Par Ventures violated federal law when it subjected a teenaged female employee to a sexually hostile work environment.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit

PALM BEACH COUNTY – NICE Systems, Inc., a software company, which provides software for customer experience, regulatory compliance, and financial crime prevention, violated federal law by paying an employee less, retaliating against her, and forcing her to resign because of her pregnancy, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. 

According to the EEOC’s suit, after the employee informed her supervisor that she was pregnant he stopped assigning her sales