EEOC Sues QSI / Stellar Management Group for Sex Discrimination

 Female  Supervisor Fired by Manager Who Wanted a Man in Her Position, Federal Agency Charged

ATLANTA - Stellar Management Group,  Inc., doing business as QSI, a contract sanitations services company that  provides sanitation services to meat processing facilities in middle Georgia, violated  federal law when it fired a female supervisor because of her sex, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission  (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

According to the EEOC's suit, Civil  Action No., 5:13-tc-05000, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District  of Georgia, the employee was promoted by QSI in or around December 2010 to a  sanitation supervisor position.  The  employee was QSI's only female supervisor and her cleaning team was assigned to  work at the Perdue chicken plant in Perry, Ga.   According to the EEOC, QSI's area manager stated that he wanted to  terminate the employee because, he said, women did not belong in supervisory  positions.  In late October 2011, the  employee missed three days of work due to a personal legal matter.  The EEOC said that her time off work was  initially approved by company management. However, on Nov. 3, 2011, QSI fired  her for allegedly failing to inform the company of her whereabouts during her  absence.  The EEOC also said that immediately  after the female employee was fired, QSI placed a male supervisor in her  position. 

Employment discrimination based on sex  is prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to  reach a voluntary settlement.  As part of  the suit, the EEOC is seeking back pay and compensatory and punitive damages,  as well as injunctive relief prohibiting the company from engaging in any  further employment practices that discriminate on the basis of gender.

The EEOC enforces federal laws  prohibiting employment discrimination.  Further information about the EEOC is  available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.