Legal developments—employment litigation on the rise in difficult economy

✍ Scribed by Elizabeth D. MacGillivray; H. Juanita M. Beecher; Deirdre Golden

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 94 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1932-2054
• DOI: 10.1002/joe.20319

✦ Synopsis

A new administration and a difficult economy have led to a rise in employment litigation. For the first time in years, the federal agencies enforcing equal employment opportunity at work are also planning to hire new staff and beef up auditing and enforcement functions. Following are some recent verdicts and settlements highlighting some of the key issues for employers today.

Race

Lawsuit by 200 Black U.S. Capitol Officers Revived

A federal appeals court revived a lawsuit brought by more than 200 black police officers who claim they were mistreated by white supervisors with the U.S. Capitol Police. The officers had originally sued in 2001, charging that white senior officers had created a hostile work environment by regularly referring to them with derogatory terms like "gangsters" and, in some cases, denying them promotions to the rank of sergeant or lieutenant. Although a lower-court judge had dismissed the case, a three-judge appeals panel reversed that part of the judge's decision and said they could sue.

Kraft Foods to Pay $227,500 to OFCCP Kraft Foods Global Inc. has agreed to pay 193 minority job applicants $227,500 in back pay and interest to settle findings of hiring discrimination, according to the Department of Labor's (DOL's) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Kraft also will provide two plant laborer positions to the class members as part of a consent decree approved by Chief Administrative Law Judge John M. Vittone. During a scheduled compliance evaluation of Kraft in Garland, Texas, OFCCP investigators determined that the company's preemployment tests had an adverse impact on minorities who applied to be laborers and that there was insufficient evidence of validity to justify the tests. Kraft no longer uses the tests in its hiring process, DOL said. The class members include "all minority classes," and the investigation covered the period from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2003. Kraft said in a statement that it is "committed to treating all job applicants fairly and equally" and that it recognizes "the importance of providing a workplace free from unlawful discrimination."

Judge Says NYC Fire Department Uses Discriminatory Hiring Practices

The Federal District Court in Brooklyn ruled that the New York City Fire Department uses discriminatory hiring practices against black and Hispanic applicants. In his decision, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis wrote that required examinations completed by applicants "unfairly excluded hundreds of qualified people of color from the opportunity to serve as New York City firefighters." The test, he ruled, does not test skills required to be a good firefighter. The Center for Constitutional Rights filed the suit on behalf of the Vulcan Society, a fraternal order of black firefighters, and three individual applicants. The lawsuit followed two Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaints filed in