Nevada Company Will Settle Discrimination Suit to the Tune of $50,000

A company based in northern Nevada will be paying 50,000 dollars to one of its former drivers as part of a deal to settle a racial discrimination and retaliation suit. The action had been initiated against the business by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on the employee’s behalf.

Sierra Restroom Solutions is a supplier of onsite portable toilets. According to the EEOC, an African American driver employed at the company suffered racist comments, name calling and harassment at the hands of his supervisor and fellow workers for the year and a half that he was working at Sierra Restroom Solutions. The supervisor used a racial slur when referring to the driver while speaking to others, and also mocked white employees for not performing as well as the African American driver on a work-related test. One of the man’s co-workers clearly displayed a swastika tattoo and discussed the need to ensure that the white race remains “pure.” Within a month’s time, the driver twice complained to his supervisor regarding the inappropriate conduct and dialogue, and he was fired a couple of days after his second complaint.

“People who work expect to be treated with respect,” the driver said in an EEOC press release. “Individuals should not accept discrimination and should exercise their rights.” He furthered expressed content with having reported his case to the EEOC and suggested to others to “bring companies who discriminate out in the open so people know who they are.”

Racial harassment is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was expressly designed to prohibit “unlawful employment practices.” Retaliation also violates the Civil Rights Act and any law that is enforced by the EEOC, as an employer’s retaliation would be an action against a person protected by law. EEOC Investigator Eric Darius looked into the driver’s case and determined the probability of Title VII violations. The Commission first tried to reach a voluntary settlement through conciliation but was unproductive. A lawsuit was then filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, Northern Division. While the litigation was in progress, Sierra Restroom Solutions was sold to Sierra Site Solutions, which was later acquired by United Site Services, Inc.

“The law is clear: All employees have the right to work in an environment free from hostility, intimidation and ridicule,” said EEOC San Francisco Regional Attorney William R. Tamayo. “In this case, the company failed to live up to its responsibility to provide a workplace free of racial hostility.”

EEOC San Francisco District Director Michael Baldonado stated that the EEOC hopes the case’s satisfactory result “sends a clear message” that any bosses who are fully aware of racial harassment at their companies “should take prompt and effective measures to investigate, stop any unlawful conduct and discipline those found responsible.”