Big Lots Stores, Inc., which operates the Big Lots store at 4900 Rogers Ave. in Fort Smith, will pay $155,000 to four claimants and furnish other relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

Ashlan Village, Inc., doing business as Ashlan Village Retirement Community, a retirement and assisted living facility located in Lyman, S.C., will pay $40,000 and provide non-monetary relief to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The Denver Field Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Consulate of Mexico in Denver today.  The agreement establishes an ongoing collaborative relationship between these two entities to provide Mexican nationals with information, guidance, and access to resources on the prevention of discrimination in the workplace, regardless of documentation status.  Mexican Consul General Andrés Chao and Rayford O. Irvin, director of the EEOC's Phoenix District Office, signed the agreement.

A Cerritos, Calif.-based plastic bag manufacturer will pay $150,000 in monetary damages to resolve a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.  

Two Texas state agencies will pay $175,000 to settle sex discrimination lawsuits filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, the federal entities announced today.  The EEOC and DOJ had charged the state agencies with responsibility for gender-based pay discrimination at another, now-defunct, state agency.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) finished fiscal year 2012 with record high monetary recoveries for victims of discrimination, as well as a significant decrease in its inventory of pending cases, the agency announced in its Performance and Accountability Report  (PAR) released Nov. 16.  This is the first performance report compiled under the standards of the EEOC's new Strategic Plan adopted on February 22, 2012, after comprehensive review and significant public input.  The new plan took effect in March, 2012.

TEPRO, Inc., a manufacturer of automotive parts, violated federal law by subjecting a class of 20 or more employees to age discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed on November 15, 2012

Sparks Steak House, an upscale steakhouse in New York City, will pay $600,000 and take other steps to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit today charging that Ramin, Inc., a Comfort Inn & Suites franchise owner in Taylor, Mich., violated federal law when it terminated a pregnant housekeeper because of her pregnancy.

IHOP restaurants in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties that are owned and operated by Fahim Adi have agreed to settle a class sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for $1 million, the agency announced today.