MARS SUPER MARKETS TO PAY $275,000 AND OFFER JOBS TO WOMEN TO SETTLE EEOC SEX DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT

Class of Women Denied Meat Cutter Positions, Agency Charged

BALTIMORE  -- Mars Super Markets, Inc., a Baltimore-based supermarket chain, will pay  $275,000 and furnish significant remedial relief to settle a class sex  discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity  Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According  to EEOC’s suit (JFM-08-2570), filed in the U.S. District Court for the District  of Maryland, Northern Division, Mars refused to hire part-time deli clerk Gail  Brown as an apprentice meat cutter at a Dundalk, Md., Mars store because she is a woman. Mars, which operates 16 grocery stores in the  Baltimore  metropolitan area, had an ongoing pattern of failing to hire females as meat  cutters and also failed to preserve various personnel and employment records,  which also violated federal law.

Refusing to  hire qualified applicants because of their gender violates Title VII of the  Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

“Eliminating  an entire gender – half the population – from consideration for a particular type  of job makes no sense and clearly violates decades-old federal law,” said EEOC  Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “Let  this settlement be a reminder and a warning:  The EEOC will hold perpe­trators of such anachronistic employment  practices accountable for their flagrant flouting of anti-discrimination laws.”

Brown said, "I want to thank  EEOC and my attorney, Darcy Massof. I  hope this helps women in the future get hired on their ability and not their  gender."

The consent decree settling the  case, pending court approval, mandates that Brown will receive back pay,  compensatory damages and attorney’s fees of $118,000. The decree  also provides back pay to other identified female applicants for the position  of meat cutter that were denied hire because of their gender.

Along with  the relief paid to the class members, the three-year decree provides for  significant remedial relief, including Mars’ agreement to:

 
•   extend job offers to women denied  meat cutter jobs;
 
• post a notice to all female applicants  and employees who were denied the job advising them that they may be entitled  to job offers and should contact the EEOC;
 
• submit written reports to EEOC  regarding the employment status of eligible claimants;
 
• refrain from discriminating on the  basis of sex in any way;
 
• maintain employment records in  compliance with Title VII;
 
• develop  job descriptions for meat cutter positions;
 
• post a non-discrimination notice to  employees and applicants; and
 
• provide anti-discrimination training to  all current and all future officers, managers and supervisors.

“We brought  this lawsuit to advance everyone’s legal right to a workplace free of sex  discrimination and to remind employers that they must make employment decisions  based on the applicant’s ability to perform the duties of the job rather than on  stereotypes,” said EEOC Acting Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence.

In Fiscal Year 2008, the EEOC  received 28,372 charges of sex-based discrimination.

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