Yesterday, the EEOC announced an
agreement with a Cleveland manufacturer to settle a class action lawsuit which
alleged that the employer systematically discriminated against women by failing
to hire them, permitted harassment against the women who were hired and failed
to comply with federal document retention requirements concerning job
applicants and new employees. As part of
the settlement, Presrite Corporation
will pay $700,000, which will be distributed among a class of women who sought
and were denied jobs at the company. In
addition, the company is required to hire no fewer than 40 women identified by
the EEOC during the claims process.
These women will receive priority consideration and jobs before any
current male applicants. The company will also be required to make periodic reports
to the EEOC, conduct mandatory training, and improve document retention practices
to include electronic data.
According to the
EEOC, the company regularly rejected female applicants in favor of
less-qualified male applicants at its three Ohio plants. There were also incidents showing that women
who were hired were harassed on the job.
Finally, the company failed to keep copies of applications and other
employee data required by federal law. The
EEOC alleged that the company “failed to produce more than a thousand
employment applications for persons the company hired and failed to maintain
accurate or complete data about applicants. As a result, the EEOC said, it was
unable to identify by name all of the female applicants who were unlawfully
denied hire.”
