Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EEOC NEWS—Employers agree to pay $500K for disability discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, (Mar 28, 2025)

By Jonathan Anderson

One employer agreed to pay more than $415,000 after a male supervisor subjected female employees to unwanted sexual touching and other harassment.

Four employers entered into settlement agreements totaling $500,112 to resolve allegations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that the employers violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition to providing monetary relief to affected job applicants and employees, the employers agreed to make changes to their policies, procedures, and training to avoid future discrimination.

Disability discrimination. C.W. Inc. dba CPG Staffing and Executive Personnel Group, LLC agreed to pay $60,000 to a job applicant and provide other relief to settle an EEOC lawsuit alleging disability discrimination. The suit alleged that the employers rescinded a welding applicant’s job offer after learning from a post-offer medical questionnaire that he had injured his knee at work two years earlier. Before disclosing the prior injury, from which he had recovered, the applicant passed a welding test. The applicant indicated he could perform the essential duties of the welder job, did not require a reasonable accommodation, and provided a letter from his physician clearing him to work. Yet, Executive Personnel’s risk manager instructed CPG Staffing not to hire the applicant because of his prior injury. CPG Staffing, in turn, rescinded the applicant’s job offer. Under a two-year consent decree, CPG Staffing and Executive Personnel Group must provide their employees with specialized training on the ADA’s prohibition against disability discrimination. The sister staffing companies are also required to remove a question about prior work-related injuries from their post-offer medical questionnaire and to add ADA anti-discrimination language to the questionnaire. Additionally, the decree requires the companies to post a notice that sets forth the general requirements of the ADA at each of their facilities.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Southern District of Georgia; the case is No. 2:24-cv-00138-LGW-BWC.

Disability discrimination. Reliable Maintenance Solutions, Inc. will pay $25,000 to a job applicant and undertake remedial measures to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC. In March 2021, the Georgia employer refused to hire an experienced applicant for a heavy equipment operation position because of his disability. The applicant is a right-arm amputee with years of work experience operating dump trucks, and he was working as a dump truck operator at the time of his application to Reliable. The company allegedly interviewed the applicant for the position and assured him that his status as an amputee would not be an impediment to his hiring. Although the applicant then successfully completed safety training, Reliable asserted that at least one of its clients was uncomfortable with an amputee being employed as a heavy equipment operator, and so the applicant was not hired.

As part of a two-year consent decree, the company must inform job applicants of their rights under the ADA, post a notice in the workplace informing employees of the settlement, and train all employees about their rights and responsibilities under the ADA. The employer’s revised ADA policies include a measure requiring the company to place language in all job applications and health questionnaires stating that otherwise qualified applicants for employment will not be disfavored because of a disability, and that the company will respect any rights to accommodation under the ADA. Moreover, the company agreed to provide the EEOC with periodic reports regarding any future complaints of disability discrimination, including a description of each employee’s allegations and the company’s response.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Northern District of Georgia; the case is No. 2:24-cv-00093-RWS-JCF.

Sex harassment, retaliation. Wal-Mart Stores East, LP agreed to pay $415,112 to two former employees and furnish other relief to resolve an EEOC Title VII lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. The suit alleged that the employer fired an employee of a Walmart Supercenter in Lewisburg, West Virginia, after she reported to the company that she had been sexually harassed by a manager. The EEOC alleged that the manager subjected female employees to egregious sexual harassment, including unwelcome and offensive sexual touching; requests for sexual acts in exchange for money or favorable treatment at work; requests that female workers expose their breasts; and making crude sexual innuendos. Walmart allegedly received multiple complaints about the store manager’s conduct and failed to take appropriate action to stop the harassment.

In addition to paying the monetary relief to two female workers, Walmart is barred from rehiring the former store manager and must provide specialized training on conducting sexual harassment investigations; supplement company policies to ensure that sexual harassment and retaliation investigations are conducted by personnel who have no conflicts of interest and have received specialized training; and consent to EEOC compliance monitoring and reporting requirements.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Southern District of West Virginia; the case is No. 5:23-cv-00623.

Companies: C.W. Inc.; CPG Staffing; Executive Personnel Group, LLC; Reliable Maintenance Solutions, Inc.; Wal-Mart Stores East, LP

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