EEOC-Initiated Litigation - 2024 Edition

36 | EEOC-INITIATED LITIGATION: 2024 EDITION ©2024 Seyfarth Shaw LLP KEY SETTLEMENTS SECURED IN FY 2023 EEOC v. Staffing Solutions of WNY, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-00562 (W.D.N.Y.) Staffing Solutions of WNY, Inc., a staffing agency, agreed to pay $550,000.00 to settle a Title VII lawsuit brought by the EEOC that alleged the company rejected black, disabled, pregnant and older applicants and forced out an Office Manager who opposed the discrimination. Pursuant to a three-year Consent Decree, $475,000 must be distributed to applicants and employees who were subjected to Staffing Solutions’ discriminatory practices. The decree also provides for significant non-monetary relief designed to prevent further discrimination. Staffing Solutions will pay $75,000 to retain an independent monitor to regularly review its hiring and placement decisions to ensure they are legal, provide its owner and internal staff with extensive anti-discrimination training, and investigate complaints of discrimination. Also, the decree requires Staffing Solutions’ owner to send a letter to all clients committing the company to following federal laws prohibiting discrimination; includes various injunctions against discrimination in the future; and requires the company to adopt a robust anti-discrimination policy and distribute it to all applicants and employees. The EEOC will monitor Staffing Solutions’ compliance with these obligations for the next three years. EEOC v. iTutorGroup, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 1:22-cv-02565 (E.D.N.Y.) The EEOC and iTutorGroup, three integrated companies providing English-language tutoring services to students in China, settled an ADEA lawsuit brought by the EEOC alleging that the company programmed its online software to automatically reject more than 200 older applicants. The company will pay $365,000.00 to applicants who were rejected due to age pursuant to the Consent Decree. Although iTutorGroup has ceased hiring tutors in the United States, the decree also provides for significant non-monetary relief designed to prevent discrimination should iTutorGroup ever resume its U.S. operations. That relief includes extensive and continuing training for those involved in hiring tutors, issuance of a new anti-discrimination policy, and strong injunctions against discriminatory hiring based on age or sex and requesting applicants’ birth dates. The EEOC will monitor iTutorGroup’s compliance with these obligations for at least the next five years or longer if iTutorGroup resumes hiring tutors in the United States, and if iTutorGroup does resume its U.S. operations, it must notify and interview those applicants allegedly rejected because of age. KEY CASES FILED IN FY 2023 EEOC v. TA Dedicated, Inc. d/b/a Transport America and TForce TL Holdings USA, Inc. d/b/a Transportation Enterprise Services, Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-01802 (N.D. Ohio) The EEOC filed a Title VII lawsuit against TA Dedicated, Inc. D/b/a Transport America and TForce TL Holdings USA, Inc. D/b/a Transportation Enterprise Services, trucking companies, alleging that beginning in late 2018 OH WV PA NJ Philadelphia MD DE RI EEOC Philadelphia District Office DISTRICT PROFILE Director: Jamie Williamson Regional Attorney: Debra Lawrence Merit Cases Filed in FY 2023: 19 (1st) Average Days Between Determination Letter & Failure to Conciliate: 60 Average Days Between Failure to Conciliate & Complaint: 195 Average Days Between Determination Letter & Complaint: 256

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