Illegal activities of Southern bosses during the week from Friday, March 6, to Friday, March 13
Every day across the south workers are killed on the job, stolen from, discriminated against, or sexually harassed. Sometimes the employers are caught. Here are a few stories from last week:
Louisiana Discriminators
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed an action in federal court today to enforce a subpoena issued during its investigation into allegations against JamRock Solutions LLC.
JamRock Solutions is an Amazon delivery service partner based in Theodore, Alabama, and a charge received by the EEOC in April 2024 alleged violation of federal law by failing to accommodate an employee’s pregnancy-related limitations.
The charge alleged that a former driver at JamRock’s distribution center in St. Rose, Louisiana sought an accommodation for a pregnancy-related lifting restriction and that JamRock claimed there was no accommodation to allow her to continue operating as a driver during her pregnancy. The driver then sought to change to a dispatcher position as an accommodation, as she had prior dispatch experience. Instead, JamRock hired two new dispatchers and removed her from the schedule entirely, according to the charge.
“The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to an employee’s known limitations related to pregnancy,” said Rudy Sustaita, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Houston District Office. “When an employer fails to comply with an EEOC subpoena, the Commission will seek relief in court as appropriate.”
During its investigation, the EEOC issued a subpoena to JamRock seeking a copy of the driver’s work schedules, a copy of the job descriptions for JamRock’s driver and dispatcher positions, and the identities of all individuals hired during the relevant four-month period. The EEOC filed the action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana after first attempting to obtain voluntary compliance with its investigative requests.
Kentucky Harassers
Louisville Comedy Club will pay $372,500 in monetary relief and furnish extensive injunctive relief to resolve a finding of sex discrimination and retaliation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a conciliation agreement.
The conciliation follows an EEOC investigation into charges where the agency found that employees were subjected to sexual harassment by a manager. The investigation also found that the club failed to comply with mandatory federal reporting requirements and failed to post the “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination, including sexual harassment. Federal law also requires an employer to post a notice describing federal laws prohibiting job discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age (40 and older), equal pay, disability or genetic information (including family medical history or genetic tests or services), and retaliation for filing a charge, reasonably opposing discrimination, or participating in a discrimination lawsuit, investigation or proceeding.
Under the three-year conciliation agreement settling the charges, Louisville Comedy Club will pay $372,500 in monetary damages. The company also agreed to conduct Title VII training for employees; post an equal employment opportunity non-discrimination notice; distribute anti-discrimination policies, including harassment and retaliation policies; and appoint an equal employment opportunity compliance officer.
Mississippi Discriminators
Diamond Jim’s and Mrs. Donna’s Ole Farm Beef LLC, a Mississippi steakhouse, violated federal law when it fired a worker because of a seizure condition, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the worker disclosed her condition to the restaurant when she started work and told the company that she had not had a seizure in years. The suit stated that she had a seizure months after she began work, and the restaurant fired her in February 2023, shortly after learning of her seizure, telling her that she should focus on her health.
This alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which guarantees equal employment opportunity for qualified individuals with disabilities. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.