Newsroom

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today announced that Paul Valenti has been selected as director of the federal agency’s Miami District Office, effective March 1.

Valenti has served as director of Pinellas County, Fla.’s Office of Human Rights since January 2012.  Before his tenure with Pinellas County, Valenti served as the manager of Lee County, Fla.’s Office of Equal Opportunity -- a position he assumed in June 2005.  Prior to working for

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today released detailed breakdowns for the 67,448 charges of workplace discrimination the agency received in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. The agency secured $439.2 million for victims of discrimination in the private sector and state and local government workplaces through voluntary resolutions and litigation.  The comprehensive enforcement and litigation statistics for FY 2020, which ended on Sept. 30, 2020, are posted on the agency’s website, which

BALTIMORE - Optimal Solutions & Technologies, Inc. (OST), a provider of cyber, engineer­ing, logistics and managed services, will pay $60,000 and furnish significant equitable relief to resolve a federal disability discrimination suit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, a senior SharePoint administrator working at OST's Hyattsville, Md., facility informed his supervisor that he had a benign brain tumor which would require about six

MIAMI – Noble House Solé, LLC, a resort hotel in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., violated federal law when it fired a room attendant because she could not work on Saturdays due to her religious beliefs, the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Solé Miami accommodated the employee’s Sabbath observance for over ten months without incident. When a new director of housekeeping started work there

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Frito-Lay, Inc., a Plano, Texas-based subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures and distributes snack foods, has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to EEOC’s lawsuit, Frito-Lay violated federal law when it fired a newly promoted route sales representative in the West Palm Beach area because he could not train for the position

MEDFORD, Ore. — The restaurant New China will pay $120,000 and provide other signifi­cant relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that New China’s male restaurant manager repeatedly targeted female employees ages 15-20 with sexual comments and inappropriate touching that escalated from unwanted hugs to groping. In his 50s, the manager mostly worked the night shift. Because he

NASHVILLE – Performance of Brentwood, L.P., doing business as Lexus of Cool Springs, a car dealership in the greater Nashville area, agreed to pay $60,000 to resolve a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

The EEOC’s lawsuit had charged that Lexus of Cool Springs subjected a female service con­sultant to different treatment than similarly situated male co-workers, and then fired her because of her sex

HOUSTON – T&T Subsea, LLC, a Galveston marine services company, will pay $125,000 and furnish significant equitable relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the suit, after being diagnosed with cancer, the commercial diver continued to work for T&T through his chemotherapy and radiation treatment until he took leave for surgery. When he notified T&T that he was ready

DETROIT – United Precision Products Co., Inc., a Michigan-based aerospace components manufac­turer, will pay $60,000 and provide other relief to settle a federal age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, United Precision Products violated federal law by refusing to hire an applicant because of his age. The then-64-year-old applicant applied through a staffing agency to be a machine operator. During a

NEWARK, N.J. – Saint Clare’s Health, a division of Prime Healthcare Services that operates two hospitals in Morris County, N.J., violated federal law when it refused to accommodate a new employee’s sudden disability by delaying her start date, and withdrew her job offer instead, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, Taylor McKay, who was pregnant at the time, was hired by Saint Clare’s

BUFFALO, N.Y. – James Cars of Hamburg, LLC, doing business as James Mitsubishi Hamburg, and its parent company, James Auto Management LLC, will pay $110,000 and provide other relief to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the general manager of the Hamburg dealership and two other dealerships owned by the parent company in Rome and Greece, N.Y., made numerous

BALTIMORE -- Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, a major restaurant chain, will pay $15,000 and provide significant equitable relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC's suit, an applicant who is deaf applied online for the position of dishwasher. When he appeared for his scheduled interview at the restaurant’s Linthicum Heights, Md., store, however, he was turned away

DETROIT – Traverse City restaurant Georgina’s LLC, and its successor, Anthony’s Little G’s, will pay $200,000 and furnish other relief to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged that Georgina’s owner repeatedly made lewd sexual comments to a female sous chef. The agency alleged that when the sous chef complained to a manager, the owner stripped her of authority

LAS VEGAS – Official Security, a Las Vegas-based security company, has settled a federal charge of race discrimination filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The charge made to the EEOC alleged that Official Security violated federal law when it failed to allow a Black applicant to apply for a vacant position due to her ethnic hairstyle, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of

NEW ORLEANS – The former operators of a Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Monroe, La., will pay $400,000 and provide extensive non-monetary relief to settle a pay discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The former operators of the hotel — Aimbridge Hospitality, LLC and AH 2007 Management, LP (collect­ively, Aimbridge) — are based in Plano, Tex., and manage hotels nationally and internationally.

According to the

DENVER – Fagerberg Produce, Inc. has agreed to conciliate discrimination charges involving sexual harassment and retaliation with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Com­mission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged that a former manager at Fagerberg Produce subjected employees to unwelcome sexual harassment, retaliation, and/or different terms and conditions of their work environment. Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

Fagerberg Produce has agreed to

ORLANDO, Fla. – Pirtek USA LLC, a fluid power system company based in Rockledge, Fla., has agreed to pay $85,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged that Pirtek violated federal law by firing an employee because of a perceived disability. In late 2015, the employee was hospitalized for several weeks with pancreatitis, acute respir­atory

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that, effective Feb. 1, it will begin using a new software system (“the 2021 system”) to receive and process Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and appeals, replacing the system it has used since 2015.

As part of EEOC's ongoing commitment to transparency and accountability, FOIA requesters will continue to be able to monitor their requests and appeals online and exchange correspondence and documents

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the conclusion of two six-month pilot programs relating to the agency’s conciliation and mediation efforts.  The two pilots were announced in July 2020 and originally set to last six months.

“I strongly support the prompt and voluntary resolution of discrimination charges whenever doing so is consistent with our mission,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows.  “The Commission will continue to strengthen its conciliation and

ATLANTA – Gentiva Health Services, doing business as Kindred at Home, a provider of home health services including nursing and rehabilitation assistance, will pay $160,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC’s suit charged that Kindred learned that one of its employees suffered from Morton’s neuroma and capsulitis of the metatarsophalangeal joints of both feet. The employee initially asked to