Newsroom

AUSTIN, Texas — Peak Performers, incorporated as St. Vincent de Paul Rehabilitation Services of Texas, Inc., an Austin-based staffing agency providing staffing and recruitment services for workers with disabilities, agreed to pay $160,000 to a disabled former employee and institute significant reforms 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, following a suicide attempt resulting from mental health

WASHINGTON – Apple, Inc. unlawfully failed to accommodate an employee’s Jewish faith and subsequently fired him because of his religion and in retaliation for complaining of religion-based discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in a lawsuit filed today.

The EEOC’s suit said a 16-year employee at the Reston, Virginia Apple Store, who worked as an Apple “genius” consistently received positive performance reviews. However, beginning in August 2023, shortly after he converted to

AUSTIN, Texas — Peak Performers, incorporated as St. Vincent de Paul Rehabilitation Services of Texas, Inc., an Austin-based staffing agency providing staffing and recruitment services for workers with disabilities, violated federal law when it refused to provide a reasonable accommodation to a disabled executive assistant and then fired her, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, following a suicide attempt resulting from mental health

WASHINGTON – Equinox Holdings, Inc., which owns and operates fitness facilities nationwide, will pay $48,000 and provide other relief to resolve a disability and sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, Equinox rejected a female applicant with endometriosis and experience working for other fitness companies after she requested that her second-round interview for a front desk associate position be delayed

AUSTIN, Texas – Corner Bar, which operates on South Lamar Boulevard in Austin, Texas, will pay $42,000 and provide other equitable relief to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today. The lawsuit named three limited liability companies that operate Corner Bar and other Austin-area hospitality businesses.

The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that soon after the bartender became visibly pregnant, Corner Bar reduced her work

SAN JUAN, P.R. – Triple-S Vida, Inc. and Triple-S Management, Corp. (together, “Triple S”) have agreed to pay $100,000 and provide other equitable 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, a traveling sales agent requested reassignment to an in-office position as a reasonable accommodation because her fibromyalgia symptoms limited her ability to drive for extended periods

WACO, Texas – Heart of Texas Goodwill Industries, Inc., a Texas-based non-profit retailer, will pay $75,000 and provide other equitable relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that Heart of Texas Goodwill refused to consider an applicant who is deaf for a production team member position at its store in Killeen, Texas. The EEOC’s complaint alleged that

WASHINGTON – Security Assurance Management, Inc. (SAM), a security firm operating in the Washington area, violated federal law when it removed a special police officer from her assignment because its client did not want her working at its jobsite while pregnant, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed Jan. 21.

According to the lawsuit, SAM failed to provide the employee with both breaks for pumping breast milk and an appropriate

WASHINGTON – Northern Virginia Surgery Center, LLC (NVSC), which operates an outpatient surgery center, will pay $50,000 and provide programmatic relief to resolve a disability and age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, when an older radiologic technologist requested an extension of her medical leave to recover from carpel tunnel surgery, NVSC terminated her and replaced her with two significantly younger

WASHINGTON – Equinox Holdings, Inc. (Equinox), which owns and operates fitness facilities and gyms nationwide, illegally discriminated against a woman who suffers from endometriosis on the basis of disability and sex when it failed to hire her as a front desk associate at its sports club in Washington because of her “monthly cycle” and potential need for a reasonable accommodation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit filed today. The agency also

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today released its Annual Report on the Federal Workforce for fiscal year (FY) 2021. The report provides the state of equal employment opportunity (EEO) throughout the federal government including benchmarks against which individual agencies can gauge their performance.

The report’s first section identified underlying FY 2021 trends in federal sector complaint processing. Main findings included:

• 33,506 counselings completed, with 36.5% resulting in a formal complaint filing

WASHINGTON – Alto Experience, Inc., a ride hailing company that currently operates in Texas, Florida, and California, and previously operated in the District of Columbia and Virginia, violated federal law when it denied reasonable accommodations and employment to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who applied to work as personal drivers, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, Alto refused to hire qualified deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals

WASHINGTON – Susan Harthill, a lawyer and executive leader with 30 years of employment law experience, joined the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as the Director of Appellate Review Programs (ARP) in the agency’s Office of Federal Operations (OFO) on Nov. 18, following her selection in early October.

In the role, Harthill will lead the program responsible for adjudicating appeals of decisions on employment discrimination complaints filed by federal employees and applicants for federal

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

SAN ANTONIO – Benson Enterprises, Inc., the operator of multiple automotive dealerships including Ingram Park Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, violated federal law by subjecting two female employees to sex-based discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed in federal court today.

The EEOC’s lawsuit claimed a male manager for Ingram Park Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram created and maintained a hostile work environment by subjecting a female fleet

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Farmacias Carimas, a retail pharmacy chain, violated federal law when its manager subjected a female employee to a sexually hostile work environment, forcing her to resign, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, manager Khalid Yassin, nephew of the company’s owner, Abdullah Yassin, attacked a female employee before closing the store at night, and subjected her to unwanted sexual contact

SAN ANTONIO — National Telecommuting Institute, Inc. (NTI), a Westwood, Massachusetts-based staffing support firm, agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The EEOC’s lawsuit charged NTI with violating the Americans with Disabilities Act when it did not pursue placement or referral of blind and low-vision job applicants as telephone-based customer service agents when the company became aware that

SAN ANTONIO – Altman Specialty Plants, LLC, the largest horticultural grower in the United States, will pay $172,000 in monetary relief and furnish extensive injunctive relief to resolve a finding of sex discrimination and retaliation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a conciliation agreement, the federal agency announced today.

The conciliation follows an EEOC investigation into charges where EEOC found that an Altman supervisor subjected female employees to sexual harassment and a

WASHINGTON – Didlake, Inc., a government contractor that provides janitorial and maintenance employees to federal worksites throughout Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, will pay $1,017,500 and provide programmatic relief to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, Didlake, a nonprofit that employs a significant number of employees with disabilities, failed to provide communications accommodations, including American Sign

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Charlotte A. Burrows today issued a joint statement to mark the first anniversary of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act):

“On Dec. 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law much-needed and long overdue workplace protections for pregnant and nursing workers. We celebrate the first anniversary of legislation that

WASHINGTON – Yaw Gyebi Jr. has been chosen as the new director of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) New York District Office, the federal agency announced today. Gyebi, who most recently served as the founding chief of enforcement and investigations at the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, started today.

“Mr. Gyebi brings a wealth of knowledge from his work as a senior state government leader with extensive enforcement, employment law and labor relations experience,”

WASHINGTON – Triple Canopy, Inc. a Reston, Virginia-based company providing protective services to federal agencies, will pay a former employee $110,759 and provide other relief to settle a religious discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Triple Canopy denied a religious accommodation to an employee who held a Christian belief that men must wear beards because the employee was unable

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