Given the proximity to Washington, D.C., Maryland companies might be expected to abide by employment discrimination laws, particularly Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That famous law provides protection to workers from adverse employer actions motivated by race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
Yet a national food distributor and marketer, with offices in Maryland and neighboring Virginia, is the subject of a recent sex discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The complaint was filed in federal court in Baltimore, Maryland.
According to the EEOC’s complaint, the company has an observable pattern of excluding female applicants from consideration for certain manual labor jobs, including truck drivers, meat packers and cutters, mechanics, forklift operators, and warehouse supervisors. EEOC officials further claim that top-level company officials expressly instructed managers not to hire women for warehouse work.
As relief, the EEOC seeks a variety of remedies, starting with an injunction prohibiting the company from continuing its alleged sexually discriminatory hiring practice. The complaint also requests provide job opportunities for women, lost wages, and pay punitive damages.
In the absence of an employee handbook or other official employer publications, the company may have a hard time defending against the EEOC complaint if its employee demographics reflect a disproportionately male workforce. However, an employment law attorney might be able to explain the evidentiary requirements that a court will consider in a Title VII gender discrimination case. An attorney might also negotiate for a settlement with EEOC officials, perhaps by offering affirmative employment policies that the company could implement.
Source: truckinginfo.com, “EEOC Files Sexual Discrimination Suit Against Food Distributor,” June 19, 2013