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LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW — 10/17/08

Car dealership withheld worker's wages in reprisal for race bias complaints, EEOC alleges

According to a lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Andy Chevrolet, doing business as Sims Chevrolet, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting black employees to racial discrimination and retaliation at the auto dealership located in Lyndhurst, Ohio. In its suit (dkt no 1:08-cv-02335), filed in US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, the EEOC charges that since July 2007 Sims Chevrolet subjected Keith Hall and a class of African Americans to different terms and conditions of employment and a hostile work environment on the basis of race. The agency said that Hall, a finance manager with the company, was subjected to racial epithets, such as continued use of the N-word, and that management made sales team assignments based upon race. Additionally, the EEOC says that Sims retaliated against Hall after he complained about the unlawful discrimination by withholding his wages.

"This case shows that race discrimination too often continues to permeate employment decisions," said EEOC Philadelphia Regional Attorney Jacqueline McNair, whose district includes parts of Ohio, in a statement. "As bad as this racial abuse was, Sims made a bad situation worse by withholding the victim's wages to punish him for complaining. This misconduct is completely unconscionable and illegal, and the EEOC will fight it."

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

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