EEOC Sues Shimmick Corporation for Retaliation

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Shimmick Corporation, doing business as Shimmick Construction Company, Inc., a construction company that serves as the prime contractor on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Chickamauga Lock Replacement project in Chattanooga, Tennessee, violated federal law when it retaliated against an employee because she opposed discrimination and participated in an investigation about alleged discrimination, eventually forcing her to resign, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit today.

According to the lawsuit, a former employee filed a complaint on behalf of a female employee, his fiancée, alleging sex-based discrimination by the employee’s supervisors. Shimmick investigated the complaint. During the investigation, the female employee responded to Shimmick’s questions and provided evidence of the sex-based discrimination, including identifying two male managerial employees as individuals who tolerated and enabled the discriminatory mistreatment she endured. Less than a month after Shimmick’s investigation, the two managerial employees reassigned the female employee to the nightshift in an attempt to force her to resign. The managers presented the employee with an ultimatum: either agree to work the nightshift or turn in the keys and leave. The managerial employees left the female employee with no choice but to relinquish her keys and leave the job site.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII, which prohibits retaliation against employees for opposing discrimination or participating in an investigation. The EEOC filed EEOC v. Shimmick Corporation, Case No. 1:24-cv-00323, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Southern Division, after first attempting to reach pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process. 

“The EEOC prioritizes enforcing anti-retaliation laws, particularly in industries like construction, to ensure women are not punished for asserting their rights and to break down the barriers that perpetuate their underrepresentation,” said Edmond Sims Jr., acting district director for the EEOC’s Memphis District Office.

For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation. 

The EEOC’s Memphis District Office has jurisdiction over Tennessee, Arkansas, and 17 counties in Northern Mississippi.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.