Ceisel
Masonry will pay half a million dollars to settle a race and national
origin discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced. The EEOC's suit
charged that the north suburban construction company violated federal
anti-discrimination laws by subjecting its Hispanic workers to
harassment based upon their race and national origin.
The EEOC
brought its suit on behalf of a class of 10 Hispanic workers, charging
that Ceisel's foremen and former superintendent would refer to the
company's Latino employees with derogatory terms such as "f---ing
Mexicans," "pork chop," "Julio," "spics," "chico" and "wetback." In
addition, the EEOC and the former employees alleged that Hispanic
workers were routinely exposed to racist graffiti, which the company
never addressed. The case was scheduled for a two-week jury trial to
start on May 4, 2009.
"No employee should have to trade his or
her dignity for the right to work, and no employer should permit this
type of verbal abuse of employees," said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J.
Ishimaru. "We take allegations of racial or ethnic harassment very
seriously and will pursue these cases vigorously."
Race and
national origin discrimination violate Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit after an administrative investigation
managed by Chicago District Director John Rowe found reasonable cause
to believe federal law had been violated, and after first attempting to
reach a voluntary settlement. The EEOC suit was filed April 13, 2006,
and captioned EEOC v. Ceisel Masonry, No. 06 C 2075. The EEOC's suit
was joined by a companion suit filed by the Chicago Lawyers' Committee
for Civil Rights Under the Law on behalf of three of the discrimination
victims, captioned Ramirez, et al v. Ceisel Masonry, No. 06 C 2084.
Both cases were filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District
of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Chicago.
The consent decree
settling the suit, signed by Judge Harry D. Leinenweber today, provides
that the defendants will pay $500,000 to resolve this matter. The
three-year decree enjoins the company from future discrimination on
the basis of race or national origin and from any retaliation. It
mandates that the company will provide all of its employees with
training on how to prevent discrimination, as well as revise its
policies on harassment and how to conduct harassment investigations.
The decree also requires the company to hold its supervisors
accountable if they do not comply with the company's new
anti-harassment and investigation policies.
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