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Forrest City Grocery  Company, a distributor of tobacco and grocery items to retail and convenience  stores in six states, has agreed to pay $125,000 and furnish other relief to  settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment  Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced. The EEOC alleged that Forrest City Grocery,  doing business as Dixie Tobacco & Candy Company in Shaw, Miss.,  now closed, denied sales positions to an employee because she is a woman.

According to  the EEOC’s lawsuit, the company told Amanda McMillan the job of a salesman was  too dangerous for a woman, and that she would not be a good mother if she were  on the road meeting customers. The  lawsuit charges that Forrest City Grocery paid McMillan less than men doing the  same work.

Sex discrimination violates Title VII  of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The  EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court in the  Northern District of Mississippi (EEOC v. Forrest City Grocery Company, Civil Action  No.2:10-cv-00166), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation  settlement through its conciliation process.

Besides the  monetary damages, the company also agreed to be monitored by the EEOC, to  disseminate employment policies to employees, and provide ongoing training for  management on sex discrimination.