STATEMENT BY EEOC CHAIRMAN GILBERT CASELLAS ON PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH TEXACO

The proposed settlement agreement filed today by EEOC and Texaco, Inc. resolves the Commission's concerns that the public interest is fully addressed and that mechanisms are in place to ensure Texaco's future compliance with Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. We are pleased with Texaco's efforts in this regard and are hopeful that its agreement with private plaintiffs will soon be approved by the court.

The agreement precludes oral arguments scheduled for today on EEOC's motion to intervene in the lawsuit filed by private plaintiffs against Texaco. The motion was filed on November 20, 1996, and came after a 14-month agency investigation of Texaco found a class-wide pattern and practice of discrimination against African American employees with regard to the company's promotion practices and performance appraisal process. On November 15, Texaco and private plaintiffs proposed settlement of the suit. The agreement filed today in U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., satisfies EEOC's objectives in intervening in the suit: To secure clear, fair, and enforceable standards which will ensure future compliance with the settlement terms and establish procedures for safeguarding against and/or resolving any future occurrences of discrimination.

EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Equal Pay Act; sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991; Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments; and prohibitions against discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal government.