On the eve of a scheduled two-week trial, Northbrook, Ill.-based Ceisel Masonry agreed to pay $500,000 to settle an EEOC race and national origin discrimination lawsuit representing 10 Hispanic workers
Sources: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Chicago District Office
On the eve of a scheduled two-week trial, Northbrook, Ill.-based Ceisel Masonry agreed to pay $500,000 to settle an EEOC race and national origin discrimination lawsuit representing 10 Hispanic workers. Filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Chicago, the suit charged that the contractor’s foremen and former superintendent had referred to Latino employees with at least six derogatory terms, and alleged that the firm had neglected to address the presence of racist graffiti to which the workers were exposed.
A three-year decree enjoins Ceisel Masonry from future discrimination on the basis of race or national origin; mandates employee training on how to prevent discrimination; and, calls for revision of the company’s harassment policies, plus a requirement that supervisors be accountable if they do not comply with them. The EEOC filed suit in April 2006 after a Chicago District administrative investigation found reasonable cause to believe federal law had been violated, and subsequent attempts for a voluntary settlement. The Chicago LawyersÌ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law filed a companion suit on behalf of three workers.