World's Leading Technology Company to Pay $2.5 Million to Settle Racial Harassment Lawsuit

Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a major settlement of a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against one of the world’s largest military contractor, for $2,500,000 and other relief on behalf of an African American electrician who was subjected to a racially hostile work environment at several job sites nationwide – including threats of lynching and the “N-word.”

The monetary relief for the former employee is the largest amount ever obtained by the EEOC for a single person in a race discrimination case, and one of the largest amounts recovered for an individual in any litigation settlement by the agency.  Additionally, the Bethesda, Md.-based company agreed to terminate the harassers and make significant policy changes to address any future discrimination, the EEOC said at a press conference in Hawaii.

The EEOC’s suit, filed in August 2005, alleged that the employee was subjected to severe racial harassment while working on military aircrafts as part of a field service team in Jacksonville, Fla., Whidbey Island, Wash., and Oah’u, Hawaii. The EEOC charged that the employee was the target of persistent verbal abuse by coworkers and a supervisor whose racial slurs and offensive language included calling him the “N-word” and saying “we should do to blacks what Hitler did to the Jews” and “if the South had won then this would be a better country.”  The employee was also subjected to multiple physical threats, such as lynching and other death threats after he reported the harassment. Despite its legal obligations, the company failed to discipline the harassers and instead allowed the discrimination against the employee to continue unabated – even though the company was aware of the unlawful conduct.

EEOC Regional Attorney William Tamayo said, “This is a very good resolution because the company agreed to terminate and permanently bar the employee’s harassers from employment.  It sends a powerful message that racism cannot and must not be tolerated.” 

Raymond Cheung, the EEOC attorney who led the government’s litigation effort, added, “To combat the harassment and threats faced by the employee is at the heart of why the EEOC was created.  Despite concerns of retaliation, this man had the courage to stand up and make public what happened to him, in an effort to ensure that it would not happen to anyone else.  It has been a once-in-a-lifetime honor to work on this case.” 

The litigation and consent decree were filed by the EEOC under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in the U.S. Court for the District of Hawaii. 

EEOC Honolulu Local Office Director Timothy Riera praised the agency’s lead investigator in the case, Gloria Gervacio, and said: “The overt harassment to which ‘the employee’ was subjected in Hawaii represents some of the most severe misconduct this office has come across.  It is imperative that employers here take proactive measures to ensure that discrimination complaints are taken seriously and that all employees work in an environment free of harassment.”

Racial harassment charge filings with EEOC offices nationwide have more than doubled since the early 1990s from 3,075 in Fiscal Year 1991 to approximately 7,000 in FY 2007 (based on preliminary year-end data).  Additionally, race remains the most frequently alleged basis of discrimination in charges brought to the EEOC, accounting for about 36% of the agency’s private sector caseload.

On Feb. 28, 2007, EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp launched the Commission's E-RACE Initiative (Eradicating Racism And Colorism from Employment), a national outreach, education, and enforcement campaign focusing on new and emerging race and color issues in the 21st century workplace.  Further information about the E-RACE Initiative is available on the EEOC’s web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/e-race/index.html

For more information on anti-discrimination training and implementation, or to learn more about how to protect your company against potential liability, please contact Berkshire Associates Inc. at 800.882.8904 or email bai@berkshireassociates.com.