NATIONAL
May 1, 2013 | By Michael Muskal
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.
BUSINESS
December 4, 2012 | Los Angeles Times
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.
BUSINESS
August 31, 2012 | By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times
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.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 25, 2012 | By Sam Quinones, Los Angeles Times
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.
BUSINESS
November 18, 2011 | By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times
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.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 11, 2010 | By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times
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.