Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EEOC NEWS—New lawsuits allege pregnancy, national origin, disability, pay discrimination, (Jul 15, 2026)

By Jonathan Anderson

The employers include a homebuilding company, supermarket chain, shipping and delivery service, nonprofit organization, and healthcare provider.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced new lawsuits against employers operating across the United States for alleged violations of Title VII, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, the ADA, and the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The federal agency accused the employers of pregnancy discrimination, national origin discrimination, disability discrimination, or pay discrimination.

Pregnancy discrimination. H.C. Employees, LLC dba Home Creations violated Title VII, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, when the homebuilder operating in Oklahoma and Texas fired an employee because of her pregnancy, the EEOC alleged in a new lawsuit.

Home Creations’ sales director and sales manager allegedly made repeated comments reflecting bias against pregnant sales staff, cautioning female employees not to “drink the water” because women “get pregnant and leave,” according to the complaint. When Home Creations learned in the fall of 2023 that a new sales employee in the Oklahoma City area was pregnant near the end of her 90-day “introductory period,” the employer terminated her less than two weeks later. Although Home Creations said her termination was for policy violations, including low home sales, the company previously told her she was doing a good job and it retained a male probationary sales employee with similar tenure and performance, the federal agency alleged.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Western District of Oklahoma; the case is No. 5:26-cv-01630-J.

National origin discrimination. Tawa Supermarket, Inc. dba 99 Ranch Market violated Title VII when the employer fired and otherwise discriminated against non-Chinese workers based on their national origin, according to a new lawsuit brought by the EEOC.

The federal agency alleged that since at least 2016, the grocery store chain terminated recently hired non-Chinese managers at multiple locations. Tawa also allegedly subjected non-Chinese store-level employees to discrimination by failing to promote them because they are not Chinese, paying them less than Chinese workers, and scheduling them for fewer work hours than Chinese counterparts. Some non-Chinese workers felt they had no choice but to resign, the EEOC said.

Tawa Supermarket has at least 66 locations across multiple states, including California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Arizona, and Virginia. The company is headquartered in Buena Park, California.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Central District of California; the case is No. 8:26-cv-01682.

Disability discrimination. Federal Express Corporation, formerly known as FedEx Ground Package Systems, Inc., violated the ADA by failing to provide reasonable accommodations to blind employees at its facility in Kernersville, North Carolina, the EEOC charged in a new lawsuit.

The EEOC accused the employer of discriminating against employees working as package handlers who are disabled because of blindness by failing to provide them with reasonable accommodations that would allow them to perform the essential functions of their jobs and enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment as employees without disabilities. The federal agency also said Federal Express Corporation failed to maintain records in violation of the law.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Middle District of North Carolina; the case is No. 1:26-cv-00608.

Disability discrimination. The Salvation Army violated the ADA when the organization discriminated against a Virginia employee by denying her a reasonable accommodation to seek treatment for cancer and caused her to be separated from her employment, according to a new EEOC lawsuit.

In October 2024, a case worker with Hodgkin’s lymphoma provided The Salvation Army with a medical note stating her chemotherapy treatments would continue through February 2025 and asking for intermittent leave for the treatments and related recovery. In response, the employer told the employee it needed to let her go, according to the EEOC, and she was presented with two options: resign and be eligible for reemployment when she was healthy, or be fired and no longer eligible for reemployment with The Salvation Army. The employee wanted to continue her employment with The Salvation Army but was forced to resign, the federal agency said.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Western District of Virginia, Lynchburg Division; the case is No.6:26-cv-00080-NKM-CKM.

Pay discrimination. The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) violated the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by paying a female employee lower wages than her male counterpart for performing substantially equal work because of the female worker’s sex, the EEOC has alleged in a new lawsuit.

From October 2023 until about January 2026, the university health system in Galveston, Texas, paid a female solutions architect less than a male employee holding the same position, according to the EEOC. The woman performed equal work in a job requiring substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which was performed under similar working conditions in the same facility. The EEOC charged that UTMB continued to pay the male solutions architect a higher salary even after the woman obtained a master’s degree in a related field that fell under the preferred qualifications for the job, and after UTMB conducted a salary review.

The EEOC is seeking back pay and liquidated damages for the female employee. In addition, the EEOC is seeking the elimination of pay disparity and other permanent injunctive relief to correct and prevent future pay discrimination by UTMB. The EEOC is also seeking an order requiring UTMB to institute and carry out policies, practices and programs that govern the payment of equal pay for substantially equal work regardless of sex, and which eradicate the effects of UTMB’s discriminatory employment practices.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division; the case is No. 3:26-cv-00206.

Companies: H.C. Employees, LLC; Home Creations; Tawa Supermarket, Inc.; 99 Ranch Market; Federal Express Corporation; FedEx Ground Package Systems, Inc.; The Salvation Army; The University of Texas Medical Branch

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