New York Paralegal Blog

SAN FRANCISCO – The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed the judgment on a jury verdict in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and farm worker Olivia Tamayo in a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against Coalinga, Calif.-based Harris Farms, one of the largest integrated farming operations in the Central San Joaquin Valley. The appeal followed a trial where the jury found Harris Farms liable for sexual harassment, retaliation and constructive termination. Tamayo was awarded over $1,000,000, including attorney's fees for her private lawyer, on her federal and state law discrimination claims.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will pay $300,000 to a Hardin, Mo., man to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. In its suit, the EEOC alleged that Wal-Mart refused to hire Steve Bradley, who has cerebral palsy and uses crutches or a wheelchair for mobility, when he applied for employment at its Richmond, Mo., store in 2001. At the time, the retail giant was preparing to open a new 24-hour Supercenter and was conducting mass hiring. Bradley applied for any available job, but during his interview he was questioned about his ability to work using his wheelchair and was told he was “best suited” for a greeter position. Ultimately, the company refused to hire him. The EEOC’s suit (EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 04-cv-0076 (W.D. Mo)) alleged that Wal-Mart violated Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused to hire Bradley.

INDIANAPOLIS – A Fort Wayne staffing company will settle an age, race and retaliation discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The company will pay a total of $580,000 and will also pay up to $5,000 in settlement administrative expenses. The EEOC charged in its suit (Case no. 1:08-cv-0082-TS in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Fort Wayne Division) that Renhill Services, Inc. violated federal law by failing to refer African American applicants and applicants age 40 for work assignments. Further, the EEOC said, Renhill unlawfully retaliated against employees who objected to these referral practices.

April 15, 2008 — Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts rose 38 percent in calendar year 2007, according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The number of bankruptcies filed in the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2007, totaled 850,912, up from 617,660 bankruptcies filed in calendar year 2006. Filings rebounded from a 70 percent drop in calendar year 2006, which was the first full 12-month period after the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) took effect. An historic high in the number of bankruptcies filings was seen in calendar year 2005, when over 2 million bankruptcies were filed, mainly because, in October of 2005, many of the provisions of BAPCPA were enacted. Filings fell through 2006, but started their gradual climb back up in 2007.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the settlement of a race discrimination lawsuit against BCI Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Los Angeles (BCI) for $250,000 on behalf of an African American former worker in Albuquerque, N.M. The resolution follows a favorable ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which established an important legal doctrine known as “subordinate bias” theory.

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MILWAUKEE – U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa today signed a consent decree ending a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Target Corporation for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by not hiring African Americans in the retail giant’s District 110 (Milwaukee and Madison, Wisc.) based on their race, and by failing to keep documents as required by law. Under the two-and-one-half-year consent decree ending the nearly six-year old litigation (Civil Action No. 02-C-0146, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Feb. 2002), Target agreed to pay a total of $510,000 to Kalisha White, Ralpheal Edgeston Brown, Cherise Brown Easley, and James Daniels, Jr. – African Americans who were denied jobs as assistant store managers in 2000 and 2001. As part of the decree, Target also agreed to revise its document retention policies; provide training to supervisors on employment discrimination and record-keeping; re...

EEOC Obtains Favorable Jury Verdict in Lawsuit Against Faulkner Company OXFORD, Miss. -- A federal jury here returned a $225,000 verdict Friday against Hill Brothers Construction Company and Engineering Company, Inc. (Hill Brothers) in a rare same-sex harassment lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of male employees who were sexually harassed by other men. The EEOC charged in its lawsuit that Hill Brothers discriminated against Scott Beasley, Joel Graves and Douglas Smith in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by subjecting them to a sexually hostile work environment. After a week-long trial, the jury awarded $75,000 each to Beasley, Graves and Smith as punitive damages in the case, which was presided over by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills. Beasley was also represented by private counsel.

EEOC Settles Suit Charging Male Former Regional Vice President With Victimizing Male Former Senior Accounts Executive MIAMI – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that United HealthCare of Florida, Inc. will pay $1.8 million to settle a same-sex harassment and retaliation lawsuit charging that the male former regional vice president of key accounts subjected a male former top senior account executive to repeated verbal sexual harassment in Sunrise, Fla. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division (Case No. 06-61483-CIV-MOORE/GARBER), after the high ranking senior account executive complained several times to upper management, United HealthCare retaliated against him by subjecting him to discipline and denying him stock options and commissions. The account executive even complained to the former and current chief executive officers of the employer’s parent company (United HealthGroup, ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Target Corporation, the Minneapolis-based retail sales giant, has agreed to pay $775,000 to a group of black workers as part of a litigation settlement of a race discrimination and retaliation case brought by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today. The settlement also includes employer training and other remedial relief. The EEOC charged that Target violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by creating and condoning a racially hostile work environment at its Springfield, Pa., store for a class of African American employees. The racial harassment included inappropriate comments and verbal berating based on race. Further, when one of the black employees objected to this treatment, he was allegedly retaliated against, leaving him no choice but to resign.