32 | EEOC-INITIATED LITIGATION: 2024 EDITION ©2024 Seyfarth Shaw LLP activities to maintain their employment. It further claimed that managers and supervisors discriminated against gay and lesbian workers because of their sexual orientation, including physical assaults and the use of slurs. In addition to terminating employees who refused or opposed management’s behavior, the EEOC alleges employees who resigned were constructively discharged. KEY SETTLEMENTS SECURED IN FY 2023 Joe & The Juice Joe & The Juice, a nationwide restaurant, settled a Title VII charge in which the EEOC claimed that it failed to recruit, hire, and promote female employees. Settlement was achieved during the EEOC’s administrative conciliation process, where Joe & the Juice agreed to provide $715,000 in monetary relief. Pursuant to the agreement, it will also establish a class fund for female applicants who were denied employment, appoint an EEO monitor to supervise its compliance, and develop a nationwide internal online platform to ensure equal access to employment opportunities. EEOC v. Orange Treeidence OPCO, LLC d/b/a Riverwalk Post-Acute, Providence Group, Inc., 5:22-cv-00425 (C.D. Cal.) The EEOC and defendants, a nursing facility and consulting services agency, resolved a Title VII lawsuit in which the EEOC alleged defendants subjected Black employees to racial harassment and failed to adequately address their complaints. Pursuant to the three-year Consent Decree, defendants will pay $865,000 to class members, appoint an EEO monitor, review and revise their discrimination and harassment policies, and provide training on anti-discrimination laws. KEY CASES FILED IN FY 2023 EEOC v. Prestigious Placement, Inc., Civil Case No. 2:23-cv-02568 (W.D. Tenn.) The EEOC filed a lawsuit against joint employers Prestigious Placement, Inc. and Prosero d/b/a Spinnaker Management Group alleging that female employees were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment. The EEOC alleges that beginning in at least February 2021, a male team lead routinely subjected female employees to inappropriate sexual comments and text messages. When the female employees reported the harassment, Spinnaker retaliated against them by terminating their employment. One female employee reported the harassment to the onsite manager for Prestigious Placement and two supervisors for Spinnaker, but they took no action. The EEOC claims that both Prestigious Placement and Spinnaker knew or should have known of the male team lead’s sexually harassing behavior, and that they failed to take appropriate remedial action to eliminate the sexual harassment from the workplace. Additionally, they terminated female employees when they complained about the harassment according to the EEOC. EEOC Memphis District Office DISTRICT PROFILE Director: Edmund C. Sims (Acting) Regional Attorney: Faye Williams Merit Cases Filed in FY 2023: 9 (T-4th) Average Days Between Determination Letter & Failure to Conciliate: 38 Average Days Between Failure to Conciliate & Complaint: 259 Average Days Between Determination Letter & Complaint: 220 AR MS TN Memphis
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