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WASHINGTON – Brett Brenner has been appointed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer position, effective Dec. 3, 2023, the federal agency announced today. The position is a key Senior Executive Service (SES) managerial position at the agency. Brenner has served as the acting deputy chief operating officer for the EEOC since July 2022, responsible for oversight of financial management, security issues, and internal equal employment opportunity and civil rights matters

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) detailed its financial management and provided a high-level overview of key performance results in its Fiscal Year 2023 Agency Financial Report (AFR) released today.

The EEOC strategically focused its resources in fiscal year 2023 to combat discrimination using all of its tools, including outreach and education, technical assistance, and enforcement. The agency also emphasized systemic enforcement to maximize its impact, filing nearly double the number of

CHICAGO – A federal judge ruled in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on November 7, 2023 that Urbana School District No. 116 in Illinois violated federal law by applying a discrim­inatory provision of a collective bargaining agreement to limit the compensation of teachers age 45 and older.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the Urbana school district limited the salary increases of Charles Koplinski and a group of other teachers over 45

MINNEAPOLIS – Union Pacific Railroad, a freight-hauling railroad headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska that operates rail lines in 23 states, covering most of the western two-thirds of the United States, violated federal law when it terminated conductors and locomotive engineers on the basis of perceived disability, used unlawful qualification standards to screen out individuals with disabilities, and subjected the employees to unlawful medical examinations and inquiries, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a

BISMARCK, N.D. – Jacobson Memorial Hospital Care Center, a critical access hospital in Elgin, North Dakota, violated federal law when it discharged an African American employee after she reported an incident of racial harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the lawsuit, in May 2019, a nursing aide reported to Jacobson that a co-worker called her the “n-word.” Six days later, Jacobson fired her in retaliation

CHICAGO - Alliance Ground International, LLC, a cargo logistics and handling company, violated federal anti-discrimination law by refusing to hire a qualified applicant for a mail handler position at its Chicago facility because he was deaf, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, a deaf applicant sought a position working in a warehouse through Skills for Chicagoland’s Future, a job training and placement not-for-profit. The

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Los Agaves, Inc., which operates restaurants in Iowa and Illinois, violated federal law when it subjected female employees to sexual harassment and retaliation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, female employees at the Los Agaves restaurant in Davenport, Iowa, endured serious and widespread sexual harassment by male supervisors and co-workers. The harassment included unwanted sexual touching and groping, sexual solicitation

WASHINGTON - Didlake, Inc. a government contractor that provides janitorial and maintenance employees to federal worksites throughout Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in a suit filed today.

The EEOC alleged that although Didlake, a not-for-profit corporation, employs a significant number of deaf and hard-of-hearing employees, it failed to provide communications

CHICAGO – Blackwell Security Services, Inc., a hotel and condominium staffing company, violated federal law when it refused to accommodate an employee’s religious practice, forcing him to choose between his religion and his livelihood, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee, who worked as a concierge in Chicago, Illinois, is a practicing Muslim who wears a beard as required by his religious

CHICAGO – Voyant Beauty, LLC violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it fired a production line worker because she is deaf, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.  

The EEOC’s suit alleges that Voyant terminated the employee on her first day of work at its facility in Countryside, Illinois, upon learning she is deaf, even though she was qualified for the job and could have performed

CHICAGO – United Parcel Service (UPS) violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by maintaining a discriminatory policy of refusing to hire or reasonably accommodate deaf or hearing-impaired individuals for driver positions of vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds, even when the Department of Transportation (DOT) had authorized the practice, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.  

According to the EEOC’s suit, the UPS policy is an illegal

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a report titled “Timeliness of Merit Final Agency Decisions in the Federal Sector.” A merit final agency decision (FAD) is one means by which the claims raised in an equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaint are adjudicated. A merit FAD contains findings of fact and conclusions of law on each claim raised by the complainant, provides the rationale for dismissal of any claims

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced today that they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance and maximize the enforcement of federal laws and regulations.

The MOU formalizes and increases coordination between the agencies through information sharing, joint investigations, training, and outreach. The document outlines procedures to be followed by both the EEOC and WHD as they together elevate

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Kalpana Kotagal (center) takes the oath of office as EEOC Commissioner, sworn in by EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows Aug. 9, 2023. for a term expiring July 1, 2027. Kotagal is a diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility expert and represented women and other marginalized people in employment and civil rights litigation involving issues related to Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, as well as wage

The following is a statement from U.S. EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows, in response to today’s Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina:

“Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively turns away from decades of precedent and will undoubtedly hamper the efforts of some colleges and universities to ensure diverse student bodies. That’s a problem for

MADISON, Wis. – Verona Area School District will pay $450,000, raise salaries, and furnish other relief to settle a pay discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to EEOC’s lawsuit, the school district violated civil rights law by paying nine female special education teachers and one female school psychologist lower wages than more recently hired male employees doing the same work. All nine special education

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – R3 Government Solutions, LLC, a federal contractor, will pay $82,500 and provide other relief to settle a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, R3 discriminated and retaliated against a Black woman who worked for R3 as a recruiter. The EEOC alleged the recruiter opposed what she believed were R3’s discriminatory hiring practices, which included rejecting candidates because of their

WASHINGTON– Triple Canopy, Inc. (Triple Canopy) a Reston, Virginia-based company that provides protective services to federal agencies, violated federal law by refusing to allow a male employee to have a beard as a religious accommodation, and not scheduling him for work after he complained to the EEOC, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in a suit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, despite the employee’s repeated explanations that he did not belong

CHICAGO – Lacey’s Place LLC Series Midlothian, doing business as Lacey’s Place, which owns and operates more than 30 video gaming parlors in Illinois, will pay $92,964 and furnish other relief to settle a pay discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to EEOC’s lawsuit, female district managers were paid less than their male coworkers with similar experience and education since at least

MINNEAPOLIS – R & G Endeavors, Inc., a fast-food franchisee doing business as Culver’s Restaurants of Cottage Grove, violated federal law when it subjected employees to a hostile work environment based on race, sex, sexual orientation, and disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in two lawsuits filed today. The litigation also charges the Minnesota company with denying a long-serving employee with a disability equal pay and pay raises because of his disability

CHICAGO, Ill. – Sunnybrook Education Association, IEA-NEA, (“Sunnybrook Union”), a labor union representing teachers and educational support personnel in the Sunnybrook School District, violated federal civil rights law by blocking the promotion of an African American custodian to the role of head custodian because of his race, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

The EEOC said that Sunnybrook Union grieved the promotion of a Black employee of Sunnybrook School

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – LM Wind Power Blades, Inc, a wind turbine blade manufacturer, violated federal law when it subjected an African American employee to a racially hostile work environment and then retaliated against him for complaining, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed May 4, 2023.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the African American employee was the target of sustained racial hostility from white employees and supervisors, which included

CHICAGO – Symphony Deerbrook, LLC will pay $400,000 and furnish other relief to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over conduct at its Symphony of Joliet facility, the federal agency announced today.

In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Symphony, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility, imple­mented a policy requiring employees to inform the company of any pregnancy and to obtain a note from their doctor releasing

WASHINGTON - Inova Home Health, LLC (IHH), which is owned in-part and managed by Alternate Solutions Health Network, LLC (ASHN), provides home healthcare coordination services to patients at the Inova Health System in northern Virginia, including through the services of their Post-Acute Care Coordinators (PACCs).  IHH and ASHN violated civil rights laws by paying female PACCs less than male PACCs the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in a lawsuit it filed today.

According