Plasma Biological Services, LLC and Interstate Blood Bank, Inc., dba Plasma Biological Service, which own and operate plasma collection centers, have agreed to pay $60,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

Placing pressure on companies by buyers, empowering bystanders to be part of the solution, multiple access points for reporting harassment, prompt investigations, and swift disciplinary action when warranted, along with strong support from top leadership, are some of the measures employers can take to prevent workplace harassment, panels of experts told the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace (STF) at a public meeting held yesterday in Los Angeles.

A federal jury in Peoria, Ill., has awarded $240,000 to two Somalian-American Muslims who were fired from their jobs as truck drivers at Star Transport, an over-the-road trucking company, when they refused to transport alcohol because it violated their religious beliefs, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which brought the case.  The trial started on Oct. 19, and the jury returned its verdict the next day after 45 minutes of deliberation.

DAP Products, Inc., a Dallas-based business and a leading manufacturer of home repair and construction products, violated federal law when it refused to allow a capable cancer-stricken employee to return to work and subsequently fired him because of his disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace, led by EEOC Commissioners Chai Feldblum and Victoria Lipnic, will meet publicly in Los Angeles on Oct. 22. The task force examines the problem of harassment in the workplace and seeks to identify new and creative ways by which it might be prevented and eliminated. More information on the task force is available online at: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/task_force/harassment/index.cfm. This is the task force's second public meeting, and the first in Los Angeles.

National Tire and Battery (NTB) will pay $22,500 to a former employee to resolve a national origin and religious harassment lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

Roberta L. Steele has been appointed as Regional Attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) San Francisco District Office effective Nov. 2, 2015. Throughout her legal career, Steele has worked exclusively as a plaintiffs' attorney, with a significant practice in the area of employment discrimination law. For 17 years, Steele worked with a plaintiffs' firm in Oakland, California, focusing on investigating and litigating class and collective actions under federal and state employment discrimination laws, as well as other statutes such as the wage and hour and environmental laws. Since December 2013, Steele has been the Program Director at the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) where she is responsible for the coordination of NELA's amicus, judicial nominations and continuing legal education programs, and public policy work.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Office of Public Records violated federal law when it refused to hire an attorney for a vacant appeals officer position because of his age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced today.

Two potato packing companies will pay $450,000 and furnish other relief to settle a lawsuit for sexual harassment and retaliation brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

SOCI Petroleum/Santmyer Oil Company, Inc., (SOCI), a leading oil company, violated federal equal pay laws by paying a female employee less than a male predecessor for performing substantially equal work, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed on September 30, 2015.