Eeoc

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has found that retailer Wet Seal Inc. discriminated against a former African American store manager. It's just the latest problem plaguing the struggling Foothill Ranch company, which in the space of five months has fired its chief executive, overseen a board overhaul and revamped its strategy to bolster flagging sales. Now, the federal agency tasked with enforcing laws against workplace discrimination has determined that Nicole Cogdell, a former manager of a Wet Seal store in Pennsylvania, was "subjected to a hostile work environment" because of her race.

Del Monte Fresh Produce, one of the world's leading producers of fresh fruit and vegetables, has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit related to the mistreatment of Thai immigrants working on pineapple farms in Hawaii. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Del Monte and several farm labor contractors in 2011, accusing the companies of discriminating against workers recruited from Thailand from 2003 to 2006. The EEOC said the money will be distributed to the Thai immigrants who were mistreated.

A former soldier and police officer who transitioned from male to female has been allowed to proceed with a complaint against the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives alleging job discrimination based on gender. A ruling this week by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is being seen as clarifying that rules of employment law apply to transgender people, who may file complaints under federal anti-discrimination statutes. In an email to The Times, EEOC spokeswoman Christine Nazer wrote that the ruling is now "the EEOC's position, and we will apply it in all our enforcement activities" under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, which prohibits job discrimination based on race, sex, religion and national origin.

A Southern California trucking firm has agreed to settle a discrimination case involving an African American man denied work as a driver because of his criminal record, after a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The man applied for a job in 2009 at J.B. Hunt Transport in San Bernardino. EEOC officials contend he lost out based on a criminal conviction unrelated to potential job duties. Lawyers at the federal agency reviewed J.B. Hunt's policy when handling applicants with conviction records, noting that "blanket prohibitions" do not comply with government guidelines.

Buoyed by increased funding under the Obama administration, federal officials in Los Angeles are boosting efforts to educate immigrant communities about U.S. laws against racial bias and sexual harassment. The Los Angeles regional office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has tripled the number of investigators from eight to 24 in the last year, hiring people fluent in Korean, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Portuguese and American Sign Language. And early this month, the office held its first training seminar for immigrant employers on federal anti-discrimination laws.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a sex discrimination suit against Petco Animal Supplies, accusing the San Diego-based retailer of paying women less than men to manage stores in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The commission said it was also seeking damages for any other Petco employees who had suffered similar discrimination. In one instance, Katherine Bloom was assigned to manage a new store in the Alameda County community of Dublin in August 1995 after more than two years as a company manager.

A suburban Chicago assembly-line worker who was fired for saying "good day" in Spanish, and eight others dismissed or disciplined for violating the company's English-only rule, won $192,500 in a court-approved settlement. "This was a plant and an assembly line where most people worked independently of each other, so we don't believe there was a legitimate purpose for this rule," said Jose J. Behar of the U.S.

Q: About a year ago, I was named by another manager in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint. The company settled for an undisclosed amount six months ago, and my career has taken a tailspin. I was passed up for promotion, refused a lateral transfer and have been replaced by a less qualified person. I've done nothing wrong and have been an excellent employee. I wrote a letter to the human resources and legal departments addressing these issues and have been ignored.

Two government reports harshly criticize a major policy shift by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that bans the use of goals and timetables in hiring agreements between the agency and employers, it was learned Monday.

Fry's Electronics Inc. will pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit from the federal government alleging that the retailer retaliated against a supervisor who reported a sexual harassment claim. Ka Lam, a supervisor at the chain's store in Renton, Wash., was fired after alerting supervisors to inappropriate behavior toward one of his young employees, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. America Rios, then a 20-year-old sales associate, told Lam that an assistant store manager was frequently sending her sexually charged text messages propositioning her and commenting on her body while inviting her to his house to drink, according to a lawsuit the EEOC filed against Fry's.

A jury has awarded $240 million to 32 mentally disabled former workers at a turkey processing plant in Iowa, in what officials on Wednesday said was the largest such judgment in a federal abuse and discrimination case. After a week-long trial, the jury in Davenport, Iowa, deliberated for about eight hours before deciding that Henry's Turkey Service, of Goldthwaite, Texas, violated the Americans With Disabilities Act in a lawsuit brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has found that retailer Wet Seal Inc. discriminated against a former African American store manager. It's just the latest problem plaguing the struggling Foothill Ranch company, which in the space of five months has fired its chief executive, overseen a board overhaul and revamped its strategy to bolster flagging sales. Now, the federal agency tasked with enforcing laws against workplace discrimination has determined that Nicole Cogdell, a former manager of a Wet Seal store in Pennsylvania, was "subjected to a hostile work environment" because of her race.

Fry's Electronics Inc. will pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit from the federal government alleging that the retailer retaliated against a supervisor who reported a sexual harassment claim. Ka Lam, a supervisor at the chain's store in Renton, Wash., was fired after alerting supervisors to inappropriate behavior toward one of his young employees, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. America Rios, then a 20-year-old sales associate, told Lam that an assistant store manager was frequently sending her sexually charged text messages propositioning her and commenting on her body while inviting her to his house to drink, according to a lawsuit the EEOC filed against Fry's.

A former soldier and police officer who transitioned from male to female has been allowed to proceed with a complaint against the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives alleging job discrimination based on gender. A ruling this week by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is being seen as clarifying that rules of employment law apply to transgender people, who may file complaints under federal anti-discrimination statutes. In an email to The Times, EEOC spokeswoman Christine Nazer wrote that the ruling is now "the EEOC's position, and we will apply it in all our enforcement activities" under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, which prohibits job discrimination based on race, sex, religion and national origin.

More workers than ever filed complaints this year with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concerning office discrimination, the agency said this week. A total of 99,947 allegations were filed of unfair workplace practices based on race, sex, age, religion, disability or even family medical history, according to the EEOC's annual performance report for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. That's the highest number since the commission was launched through the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Buoyed by increased funding under the Obama administration, federal officials in Los Angeles are boosting efforts to educate immigrant communities about U.S. laws against racial bias and sexual harassment. The Los Angeles regional office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has tripled the number of investigators from eight to 24 in the last year, hiring people fluent in Korean, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Portuguese and American Sign Language. And early this month, the office held its first training seminar for immigrant employers on federal anti-discrimination laws.

I would like to clear up the lingering confusion created by Chairman Clarence Thomas of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the article "900 Age Bias Cases Botched by U.S. Agency" (Part I, Jan. 8). In that article, Thomas blamed Congress for his agency's deplorable handling of 900 Age Discrimination in Employment Act complaints, which were allowed to lapse. EEOC's failure to resolve the complaints before the two-year statutory deadline for filing a lawsuit expired deprived 90 older Americans of their legal rights.

Federal officials have launched an investigation into allegations that racism and discrimination have been allowed to flourish within the Los Angeles Fire Department. In a statement released Friday afternoon, the office of interim Fire Chief Douglas L. Barry confirmed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission inquiry and said the department was fully cooperating. "The Los Angeles Fire Department takes all workplace environment issues seriously," the statement said.