EEOC Sues Three Employers for Race Discrimination

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a trio of lawsuits today charging that three Black employees were subjected to race discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One lawsuit also included a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and another included a claim of sex discrimination.

“Sixty years after the passage of Title VII, it remains more important than ever to ensure that employees are not discriminated against due to the color of their skin,” said EEOC Philadelphia Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence. “These cases underscore how insidious race discrimination is and why it is necessary for EEOC to step in and defend employees against such misconduct.”

Today, the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office filed these suits:

• EEOC v. Westminster Ingleside King Farm Presbyterian Retirement Communities, Inc., Civil Action No. 8:24-cv-02811 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The agency filed suit charging that the owner and operator of three retirement communities in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., illegally discriminated against a Black employee when it failed to promote her to an executive-level position because of her race and fired her in retaliation for complaining of race-based discrimination. According to the suit, Ingleside promoted its director of clinical operations for its home healthcare component, who was white, to executive director but refused to similarly promote its director of clinical operations for health care functions, who was Black. The Black director maintained regulatory compliance for all three of Ingleside’s communities and received exemplary performance evaluations. Shortly after the Black employee complained of racially discriminatory treatment, Ingleside terminated her.
• EEOC v. Dial America Marketing, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-01674 filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The agency filed suit charging that the company discriminated against a Black woman who worked as a call center agent. Although the woman received favorable reviews, she was falsely accused of using profanity towards a caller and then fired after she opposed and reported race discrimination and retaliation.
• EEOC v. Morton Salt, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-01689 filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The agency filed suit charging that the salt producer and distributor discriminated against a Black employee because of his race and disability and retaliated against him. The employee was reprimanded because he opposed and reported a white worker who the employer knew had a history of using the terms “n****r” and “worthless n****r” among other insults. The Black employee was falsely accused of violations and fired while white workers were treated more favorably. Despite the employee’s report to corporate human resource managers that he had been subjected to discrimination, Morton Salt failed to investigate and retaliated against the employee. The EEOC suit alleged that Morton Salt also fired the employee on the basis of disability.

The alleged conduct by these companies violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits race-based discrimination and retaliation against employees for complaining about discrimination. Morton Salt also violated the ADA by firing the Black employee because it regarded him as disabled. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a prelitigation settlement through its conciliation process in each of the cases.

EEOC Baltimore Field Office Director Rosemarie Rhodes said, “In order to eliminate racial discrimination, employees need to be able to complain about it without fear of retribution. The EEOC will continue to vigorously protect the right of employees to speak out against discrimination they witness or experience at work.”

EEOC Cleveland Field Office Director Dilip Gokhale said, “These are hardworking individuals devoted to performing well and are entitled to lawful treatment in the workplace. The EEOC will step in when workers’ efforts to better the workplace fail.”

For more information on race discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination. More information on retaliation in the workplace is available at https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation. For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-disability-related-resources. More information on sex discrimination is available at https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination.

The three lawsuits were initiated by the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office. The Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and portions of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C., and portions of Virginia.

The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.