Pretium Packaging to Pay $252,768 to Settle EEOC Sex Discrimination Suit

TOLEDO, Ohio – Pretium Packaging, LLC, a manufacturer of plastic bottles and containers, will pay $252,768 and furnish other relief to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged that Pretium’s Leipsic, Ohio, facility maintained a discriminatory practice of not hiring or promoting females to fill machine operator positions. Female employees who expressed interest in the position were told women were not eligible for the position. In one instance, two females employed as packers submitted applications for the machine operator position but were not selected for interviews; instead, male employees and external applicants with inferior qualifications were hired. Pretium also failed to maintain personnel records in violation of federal law.

Such conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. The EEOC filed suit against Pretium in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Case No: 3:22-cv-01729), after first attempting to reach voluntary pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The three-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit requires Pretium to pay over $125,000 to the two female employees who applied for machine operator positions but were not selected for interviews. An additional group of former female employees who may have been interested in the position will each be paid $2,500. A scholarship in the amount of $75,000 will be established with the Ohio Chapter of Women in Manufacturing, and Pretium will interview graduates from the program who apply for positions as machine operator, supervisor or manager. In addition, Pretium must provide annual training on sex discrimination to all employees at the Leipsic facility and submit annual reports regarding its hiring practices.

“Denying women the same opportunities as men to operate machines because the work is wrongly viewed as a ‘man’s job’ is an unacceptable and unlawful practice,” said Miles Uhlar, trial attorney for the EEOC’s Detroit Field Office. “The Commission is appreciative of Pretium’s cooperation in bringing this lawsuit to an early resolution.”

The EEOC’s Indianapolis District Office oversees Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and parts of Ohio.

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.