©2023 Seyfarth Shaw LLP EEOC-INITIATED LITIGATION: 2023 EDITION | 15 KEY CASES FILED IN FY 2022 EEOC v. Walmart Inc., 4:22-cv-37 (S.D. Ind) The EEOC filed suit alleging that Walmart subjected a Black female employee to discrimination on the basis of her sex and race in violation of Title VII. According to the EEOC’s Complaint, Walmart failed to promote this employee because she had young children at home. The EEOC further claimed that Walmart provided this employee an unsanitary storage closet for expressing breastmilk, while the company provided a clean office space to a White employee for the same purpose. EEOC v. Lacey’s Place, 2:22-cv-2161 (C.D. Ill.) The EEOC’s lawsuit asserted that Lacey’s Place engaged in a pattern of paying female district managers at rates lower than male district managers in violation of the EPA and Title VII. The EEOC also alleged that Lacey’s Place terminated a female district manager in retaliation for complaining about the supposed wage disparity. KEY SETTLEMENTS SECURED IN FY 2022 EEOC v. Chicago Meat Authority, 19-cv-1357 (N.D. Ill.) Chicago Meat Authority entered into a three-year consent decree settling a Title VII race discrimination, harassment, and retaliation lawsuit brought by the EEOC on behalf of four African American employees and a group of African American job applicants. As part of the settlement, Chicago Meat Authority agreed to pay $1.1 million to the discrimination victims, hire any improperly rejected job applicants, incorporate hiring goals for African American applicants, and implement anti-harassment training and policies. EEOC v. Stan Koch & Sons Trucking, Inc., 19-cv-2148 (D. Minn.) Minneapolis-based trucking company Stan Koch & Sons Trucking settled an EEOC-initiated lawsuit alleging that the company used a strength test that discriminated against women in the hiring process. In its five-year consent decree with the EEOC, Stan Koch & Sons Trucking agreed to pay $500,000 to the class of women whose job offers were revoked after failing the strength test, send reports to the EEOC concerning its hiring practices, and stop using the strength test at issue. EEOC v. LJC Opco Two, LLC d/b/a Long John Silver’s Store #70250, 3:21-cv-717 (S.D. Ill.) The defendant Long John Silver’s franchise settled the EEOC’s Title VII suit, which alleged that the franchise subjected a female employee to sexual harassment and subsequent retaliation for her complaints. The parties entered into a two-year consent decree providing for a $200,000 payment to the female employee, as well as the implementation of anti-harassment policies and reporting requirements for any future complaints of sex discrimination. EEOC Chicago District Office DISTRICT PROFILE Director: Julianne Bowman Regional Attorney: Gregory M. Gochanour Merit Cases Filed in FY 2022: 12 (1st) Average Days Between Determination Letter & Failure to Conciliate: 163 Average Days Between Failure to Conciliate & Complaint: 119 Average Days Between Determination Letter & Complaint: 282 IL WI MN IA SD ND Chicago
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