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LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW — 5/23/08

EEOC settles suit involving nooses, KKK graffiti & slurs at construction site

The settlement of a racial harassment lawsuit for $1,650,000 and significant remedial relief against Conectiv, A.C. Dellovade, Inc, Steel Suppliers Erectors, Inc and Matrix Services Industrial Contractors (d/b/a Bogan, Inc/Hake Group) on behalf of African-American employees who were subjected to egregious racial harassment at a construction site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was announced by the EEOC on May 5, 2005.

Conectiv was the general contractor and property owner on a project to build a new energy power plant on the site of a defunct steel plant. Construction on the project began in January 2002 and the plant was operating by the end of October 2003. The companies, acting as joint employers, subjected a class of African-American employees to racial slurs and graffiti as well as threats by hangman's nooses, the EEOC's lawsuit alleged.

The harassment included a life size noose made of heavy rope hung from a beam in a class member's work area for at least ten days before it was removed, the EEOC said. There was also regular use of the "N-word" and racially offensive comments made to black individuals, including "I think everybody should own one," "black people are no good and you can't trust them" and "black people can't read or write." Racist graffiti was also written in portable toilets, with terms such as: "coon"; "if u not white u not right"; "white power"; "KKK"; and "I love the Ku Klux Klan."

Settlement terms. As part of the settlement by consent decrees: (1) Conectiv will pay $750,000 to the four class members; (2) Matrix Services Industrial Contractors (d/b/a Bogan, Inc/Hake Group) will pay $450,000 to two class members; (3) Steel Suppliers Erectors, Inc will pay $250,000 to one class member; and (4) A.C. Dellovade, Inc will pay $200,000 to one class member.

The four-year decrees (EEOC v Conectiv et al, EDPa, No 2:05-cv-03389) also include injunctive relief: enjoining each defendant from engaging in racial harassment or retaliation; antidiscrimination training; the posting of a notice about the settlement; and reporting complaints of racial harassment to the EEOC for monitoring. The companies did not admit liability in the consent decrees, which are pending judicial approval.

"The harassment in this case is shocking and unconscionable," EEOC Regional Attorney Jacqueline McNair said. "The display of hangman's nooses, which represent a threat to life and limb, is abhorrent and will not be tolerated by the EEOC. Employers must realize there will be a high price to pay for such egregious and unlawful conduct, regardless of the industry in which it occurs." Terrence R. Cook, the supervisory trial attorney responsible for handling the litigation, added, "The class members had the courage to come forward and complain, first to supervisors, who did not take action, and then to the EEOC, which did. We are pleased that the companies worked with us to resolve the case and that they are all taking the positive steps needed to ensure future work sites are free from racial harassment."

Racial harassment cases at the EEOC have surged since the early 1990s from 3,075 in Fiscal Year 1991 to nearly 7,000 in FY 2007. In addition to investigating and voluntarily resolving tens of thousands of race discrimination cases out of court, the EEOC has sued more than three dozen employers this decade in racial harassment cases involving nooses.

For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.

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