Corporations Sued for Racial or Gender Discrimination

 This website presents a list and summary of recent allegations of racial discrimination charged in lawsuits against major corporations operating in the United States.The status of each case is reported as of June 2004. The status of any individual lawsuit may change. Readers are encouraged to investigate any of these cases independently for further information and updated stauts.



FAIR USE NOTICE
This website may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not specifically been authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance the understanding of educational, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific,and social justice issues. This constitutes a"fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit educational and research purposes. For more information on fair use, please go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own which go beyond "fair use," we suggest that you obtain permission from the copyright owner.



Racial Discrimination Lawsuits Website

Multimillion Dollar Discrimination Lawsuits

Abercrombie & Fitch

 On June 16, 2003, a coalition of organizations, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund ("MALDEF"), the Asian Pacific American Legal Center ("APALC") and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., filed an employment discrimination class action lawsuit against Abercrombie & Fitch Company. The plaintiffs allege that Abercrombie discriminates against people of color, including Latinos, Asian Americans, and African Americans, in the hiring, job assignment, compensation, termination and other terms and conditions of employment.

Specific Allegations:
http://www.afjustice.com

Adam’s Mark

The Adam’s Mark hotel chain settled race discrimination lawsuits brought by the DOJ, Florida, and some African Americans who attended last year’s Black College Reunion. The agreements include $5.9 million payouts, increased training for staff and regular updates to the DOJ. Adam’s Mark will also become one of the event’s first corporate sponsors, kicking in $112,000 a year for three years.

Although, Adam's Mark initially agreed to an NAACP's $ 8 million settlement, the trial judge refused to approve the settlement on procedural grounds. That decision is on appeal and Adam's Mark has refused to support the appeal, or to otherwise settle the guests' and the State the State of Florida's case.

http://www.naacp.org/work/legal/adamsmark.shtml


Allstate Insurance Co.  
(April 28, 2004)

Supreme Court Allows Discrimination Suit Over Allstate's Use of Credit Scoring

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Allstate's bid to end a suit by Texas and Florida policyholders who claim that the use of credit scoring unfairly discriminates against minorities by raising their rates and violates the U.S. Fair Housing Act.

The class action law suit, Jose C. DeHoyos, et al. v. Allstate Corporation, et al. was filed  in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Texas, in November, 2001. The suit,  alleges that Allstate raised plaintiffs' auto insurance premiums or assigned them to a higher-cost subsidiary based on race, due to Allstate's use of geographical redlining.

The plaintiffs' suit argues that the use of credit scoring based upon the location of the policyholders' residence is intentional discrimination that results in a "disparate impact" against minority policyholders. The case alleges that such credit scoring criteria constitute racial discrimination in violation of the U.S. Fair Housing Act.

In 2002 a federal trial judge allowed the suit to proceed. The court rejected Allstate's argument.

n September, 2003, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans affirmed the decision to deny Allstate's motion to dismiss.

With this latest Supreme Court affirmation, the case now proceeds to trial on its merits.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2004/04/28/41541.htm



In 1941, the federal Fair Employment Practices Commission was established to hear
complaints of racial discrimination in war related industries.
*Note that the appeal is to white self-interest rather than to equity, or justice.



American Eagle

What Some Call Racist at American Eagle, Others Say Was in Jest, Scott McCartney,
The Wall Street Journal, April 20, 1999


Amtrak

#1    Amtrak had barely settled with a group of black engineers on March 3, when lawyers in another class action suit announced they had widened the scope of their case against the railroad. The March 3 settlement, which includes a $16 million payment to the plaintiffs, covered engineers in the northeast. The expanded suit now covers all African American employees

#2    Former Railroad Electrician Wins Suit

Apple Computers

Apple Computer has been slapped with a $40 million racial discrimination lawsuit charging that the company unfairly sacked an African-American employee. Described by the plaintiff's attorney as "one the largest racial discrimination cases in U.S. history," the suit alleges the former employee was denied promotions and standard perks, isolated from co-workers and then fired for a trivial offense.

Augusta National Golf Club    (c. 2004)

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040406/financial_masters_burk_1.html

BellSouth    (June 30, 2003)

A Federal lawsuit has been filed against the Atlanta-based telephone giant BellSouth Corporation alleging that the company systematically discriminates against African American salaried and hourly workers. According to the suit, BellSouth routinely impedes the advancement of African American employees and pays them less than similar white employees. The company employs about 100,000 workers and this suit was filed on behalf of about 15,000 - 20,000 African American employees. The lawsuit alleges that the discriminatory practices outlined in the complaint have been long standing. BellSouth has a history of using invalid tests that even its own executives don't trust and administering those tests and other prerequisites to promotion in a discriminatory manner. According to the lawsuit, nearly 25% of BellSouth employees are African American but only 13% of those employees hold professional jobs and only 5-6% of the African American employees have advanced to senior manager or officer positions.


Boeing

#1    Boeing settled a racial discrimination suit filed by black employees in 1999 for $15 million.

#2     Boeing Prepares to Settle Discrimination Suit

SEATTLE, May 14 (Reuters) - Boeing Co. is in discussions aimed at settling a gender discrimination class-action lawsuits slated to begin on Monday, sources familiar with the case said.

The case involves 28,000 women seeking back pay and punitive damages, claiming Boeing paid them less than their male counterparts and tolerated sexual intimidation and improper advances.

The No. 2 Pentagon contractor and the world's No. 2 commercial jet maker previously paid $14.5 million to correct pay inequality, but plaintiffs claim a company study and government investigations showed a broader problem. Damages could total hundreds of millions of dollars, some observers estimate.

Women filed additional lawsuits in several locations, though cases in Southern California, St. Louis and Wichita, Kansas, were dismissed. Another case in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been granted class status but has not yet gone to trial.

#3  An additional lawsuit is smaller, involving allegations of racial discrimination from 1,850 Seattle-area engineers and technical workers with ties to seven countries: Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.


Budget Rent-A-Car

One of the nation’s largest auto rental firms told a Michigan court its liabilities could reach $350 million in a class action suit charging racial discrimination against customers. Budget’s claim enabled the company to move the trial from district court, where it was being heard by an African American judge, to federal court.

Citigroup

Coca Cola    (c. 2001)

The law firm of Mehri & Skalet has brought two landmark race discrimination lawsuits. One led in 1997 to a $176 million settlement with Texaco, now a part of Chevron Texaco (NYSE:CVX - News). The other ended in 2001 with Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO - News) settling for $192 million.

"Coca-Cola continued to move to deflect criticism of its treatment of African-American employees. CEO Douglas Daft announced in mid-March that executive pay would be linked to diversity goals, and a week later named two black executives to senior positions. Juan D. Johnson, 42, of Baton Rouge, will become director of diversity. Coretha Rushing 43, was promoted to head of human resources. On March 31, plaintiffs made a settlement offer. Some major shareholders are pressing Coke to resolve its race problem."

Cracker Barrel Restaurants     (5/04/04)

Black customers at many Cracker Barrel restaurants were seated in areas segregated from white patrons, frequently received inferior service, often were made to wait longer for tables, and sometimes were denied service by white employees, according to a Justice Department civil rights settlement announced Monday. In one restaurant, for example, the investigation uncovered a section called "the Ghetto" where black patrons were seated, according to Justice Department officials.

Cracker Barrel agreed to implement a plan that addresses allegations in a Justice Department lawsuit and consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. The lawsuit contends that Cracker Barrel violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act by "engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American customers" at dozens of restaurants, mainly in the Southeast.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc., based in Lebanon, Tenn., has been the target of several lawsuits filed by black customers who say they received poor service compared with white patrons.

Department of Justice investigators found that blacks often had exceptionally long waits for tables compared with whites, were seated in racially segregated areas in restaurants Blacks who complained about poor service also were treated less favorably than whites.

The investigation found evidence of the problems at more than 50 restaurants in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Acosta said 80 percent of the 150 employees or former employees interviewed in the probe said they had witnessed or experienced discriminatory treatment at Cracker Barrel restaurants, with managers often directing or condoning the behavior.

 http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/050404_APnat_cracker.html


Delta Funding vs. FTC, HUD, DOJ

Subprime lender Delta Funding Corp. is paying $12.25 million and changing its ways to forestall a pummeling from several government bodies. The FTC, the DOJ, and HUD all attacked the company for deceptive and illegal lending practices in low-income areas. The settlement was wrapped into an earlier deal with the New York State Banking Department

Denny’s

In 1994, Denny's reached a $54 million settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging discrimination against blacks that resulted in broad changes, including more black restaurant franchisees and an increase in minority supervisory employees.

Grand Slam Breakfast?, Guillermo, the Progressive

http://racerelations.about.com/library/weekly/aa032700a.htm 

Deutsche Bank

Eddie Bauer

Three Blacks Win $1 Million in Bauer Store Incident, The New York Times, Oct. 10, 1997

Federal Reserve Bank - Chicago

Chicago FED may face $100 million in claims

On March 28, a U.S. District Court judge in Chicago gave class action status to a lawsuit by 14 current and former employees of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The plaintiff class established by the judge includes African Americans employed as far back as 1964.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040406/financial_masters_burk_1.html


Ford Motor Company   (Jan. 25, 1997)


Ford to pay $4 million, hire more women and minorities

Ford Motor Co. agreed to pay $3.8 million to women and minorities to settle discrimination charges with the Department of Labor. The automaker also agreed to hire women and minorities.

The New York Times,
January 25, 1997.
p . 220




Georgia Pacific   (April 3, 2001)

Class of African-American Workers Subjected to Racial Slurs, Jokes, Graffiti

 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a $200,000 settlement of a racial harassment lawsuit against Georgia-Pacific Corporation, a leading global manufacturer and distributor of paper and building products, on behalf of four African-American employees. The workers were subjected to a racially hostile work environment, which included severe and repeated acts of racial harassment, racial slurs, jokes, comments, and grafitti, by a white supervisor at the company's facility in Butner, N.C. Additionally, one employee was fired after complaining about the harassment.

http://www.eeoc.gov/press/4-3-01.html


Home Depot   (June 2, 2004)

Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Home Depot

In 1997, Home Depot settled a sex-bias lawsuit for $104 million for a class of more than 25,000 women.



Johnson and Johnson      (June 16, 2004)

Charge Filed Against Johnson & Johnson for Using Discriminatory Credit Checks to Allegedly Deny African American Applicants Jobs (BUSINESS WIRE)

On June 16, 2004, Brenda Matthews filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for violating Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 by refusing to hire her and other minority job seekers on account of race.

Ms. Matthews alleges that Johnson & Johnson rescinded a job offer as a patent specialist based solely on her credit score. Personnel experts, however, say that credit scores bear no relation to job performance.

Matthews' attorney, Adam T. Klein,  said, "Johnson & Johnson's use of credit checks is racial discrimination. Federal civil rights laws prohibit employers from using credit scores and other selection criteria without any relationship to job performance that  penalize minority job applicants" (disproportionately -Ed). "That is what happened to Brenda Matthews."

Minorities often have lower credit scores because of more limited opportunities to obtain credit. Attorney Bill Lann Lee, former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U. S. Department of Justice explained, "The use of credit checks to screen job applicants is a growing phenomenon among employers. That is unfortunate. Not only are credit scores private information unrelated to job performance, the practice perpetuates prior discrimination in our society against minority families."

"African Americans traditionally have been excluded from credit opportunities that provide positive credit scores," according to Mr. Lee. "Although they have a higher savings rate than whites, blacks have been subject to historic discrimination in the credit market."

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/
http://www.injuryboard.com/articles.cfm/TOPIC=155/Type=News


Microsoft    (c. 1/01)   
http://www.itworld.com/Career/1862/IW010103hnsuit/

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed the lawsuit in September 2001, said the historic deal was the second-largest gender-related settlement ever, and the largest with a Wall Street firm. The deal, finalized over the weekend on the eve of the trial's opening statements, ends a nearly three-year battle that damaged the brokerage's reputation with allegations it tolerated groping and crude comments about sex.

Merrill Lynch

Merrill Lynch settles sex discrimination claim July 12, 2004
By Alex Morales

London - Merrill Lynch, the world's biggest securities firm by capital, settled a sexual discrimination case out of court by paying more than £500 000 (R5.65 million) to Elizabeth Weston, a former lawyer with the bank, The Times reported at the weekend, without citing anyone.

Merrill did not admit liability when it made the payment and had previously denied Weston's claims, the newspaper said.

The bank said differences had been resolved and Weston would withdraw her complaint. Merrill spokesperson Nigel Webb did not reply to a voice message seeking comment on the report.


Weston, who worked at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in London, filed a sexual discrimination claim in March against the bank's fund management unit. The suit was also filed against a former Merrill employee.

Merrill is contesting a separate sexual discrimination suit for more than $13 million (R79.2 million) by its former head of European private banking, Stephanie Villalba. If successful, she will win the largest award from a UK employment tribunal.


< style="font-family: stone sans os itc tt-semi;">Morgan Stanley (7/12/04)
Morgan Stanley settles sex-bias case
NEW YORK — Rather than risk letting a jury decide if it discriminated against its female employees by paying them less than men and passing them over for promotions, Wall Street titan Morgan Stanley (MWD) agreed Monday to pay $54 million to settle a high-profile sex-bias lawsuit.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed the lawsuit in September 2001, said the historic deal was the second-largest gender-related settlement ever, and the largest with a Wall Street firm. The deal, finalized over the weekend on the eve of the trial's opening statements, ends a nearly three-year battle that damaged the brokerage's reputation with allegations it tolerated groping and crude comments about sex.

Smith Barney

Gender Discrimination Lawsuit (7/16/98)

Racial Discrimination Lawsuit (7/16/01)

EEOC Settles Suit Against SALOMON SMITH BARNEY for Race and National Origin Bias

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a $635,000 settlement
of an employment discrimination lawsuit against Salomon Smith Barney (Salomon), a subsidiary of Citigroup
and the nation's second largest retail brokerage firm. The suit, filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
was brought by EEOC on behalf of 13 current or former employees of Salomon's Greenwich Street Data Center
who were subjected to disparate treatment and harassment based on their race and/or national origin.

The suit also charged the global financial firm with paying the class of workers disparate wages, denying them
salary increases, promotions, and equal opportunities for promotion because of their race and/or countries of origin.

The settlement was approved late Friday, June 13, as a Consent Decree by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In addition to the $635,000 in monetary payments to the victims, Salomon agreed to take major steps to enhance the promotional opportunities of four charging parties who are still employed as computer operators and to develop specific criteria for the promotion of computer operators in the Data Center. Additionally, the Consent Decree requires that Salomon:



Texaco
    (c. 1997)
  Racism at Texaco, The New York Times, Nov. 6, 1996
            
"Senior executives were taped deriding minority employees in racist terms – and plotting to destroy documents subpoenaed in a Federal discrimination case. The excerpts (of the tapes) come from a meeting held in August 1994 during which three senior executives discussed a class-action lawsuit filed by black employees who charged that Texaco had discriminated against them and created a hostile work environment. The Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission essentially validated the suit, ruling that there was reason to believe Texaco guilty of company-wide racial bias."

The law firm of Mehri & Skalet has brought two landmark race discrimination lawsuits. One led in 1997 to a $176 million settlement with Texaco, now a part of Chevron Texaco. The other ended in 2001 with Coca-Cola Co. settling for $192 million.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040406/financial_masters_burk_1.html


U.S. Department of Agriculture   (January 21, 2003)

Racial Discrimination by USDA Threatens African American Farmers

The USDA's record of racial discrimination is well documented. In 1997, the USDA Civil Rights Action Team (CRAT) revealed decades of racial discrimination that had put thousands of African-American farmers out of business. By denying or delaying loans essential to financing their crops, and by withholding other federal farm support on a widespread basis, USDA employees forced African American farmers to lose their land, their livelihoods, and their communities.

According the CRAT report, "... in several states it took three times as long on average to process African-American loan applications as it did non-minority applications." "In 1994, 94% of all county committees [that grant these loans] had no female or minority representation." That pattern of non-representation continues today.


In 1982, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission had warned, "unless government policies of neglect and discrimination are changed, there may be no black farmers by the year 2000."

In 1999, a class action racial discrimination suit (Pigford vs. Glickman) was settled with an agreement to provide financial restitution. To date, more than $630 million has been paid out to farmers and former farmers who could document that they were unfairly denied loans.

However, three years later, the USDA's delays and rejection of thousands of applications points to a continued pattern of discrimination in the grant approval process.


In a December 15, 2002, article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, ("Has USDA settlement changed anything?") cited numerous cases of on going discrimination. One case involved a USDA employee, Arthur Hall, who greeted a new African-American secretary with a noose in his office. The USDA's general counsel for civil rights, Arlean Leland,  investigated the incident and dismissed this act as nothing more than "very poor judgment".  She praised Hall as a "committed federal public servant." The message to USDA employees from her decision is that discrimination may continue as usual.

Since the 1999 suit, only four of the USDA employees accused of discrimination have been dismissed. As Congresswoman Eva Clayton in the House Agriculture Committee points out, "If any corporation paid out [even] $10 million for the behavior of their employee...they would be out of there...No one would have tolerated that."


http://www.oxfamamerica.org/advocacy/art4066.html

U.S. Marshall’s Service


 Whistle-Blowing Marshall Tells of Long Harassment, Selwyn Rabb, The New York Times, October 5, 1997
 
 Wal-Mart

Landmark Wal-Mart Sex-Bias Suit Moves Forward, NPR   (June 23, 2004)

Wal-Mart, the world's largest private employer, is facing what attorneys call the biggest sex-discrimination lawsuit in history. A federal judge in San Francisco has allowed a group of female plaintiffs to proceed with a class-action lawsuit against the retailer. They charge Wal-Mart systematically discriminated against women in pay, promotions and training.


 Wal-Mart in record sex-bias, USA Today     (June 23, 2004)

The women who filed the case against Wal-Mart claim women are paid 5% to 15% less than men in comparable positions, despite having higher performance ratings and seniority, and receive fewer promotions to management than men. The women are seeking changes in how Wal-Mart operates, including a court-appointed monitor to oversee employment practices, back earnings for women in the class and punitive damages.

 Wal-Mart Hostile to Women?, Business Week     (July 16, 2001)

... plaintiffs paint a picture of a harsh, anti-woman culture in which complaints go unanswered and the women who make them are targeted for retaliation. Based on filings Wal-Mart made to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the claim details how 72% of the company's sales staff are women but only one-third of them make it into management, despite Wal-Mart's promote-from-within policy. That means, according to EEOC data, that Wal-Mart doesn't just rank below its current retailing peers, which have an average of 56% women managers, but it also ranks below rivals' levels of 25 years ago.

...
The sexual discrimination suit is the latest in a string of recent legal problems at the company. Wal-Mart has taken an aggressive, no-holds-barred litigation stance for years that has drawn the ire of courts nationwide. Judges have sanctioned the company more than 130 times, in 40,000 cases in the past decade...

Indeed, since 1994, the EEOC has filed 16 suits against Wal-Mart for disability discrimination. That is the most Americans with Disabilities Act-related EEOC suits of any U.S. company, according to the EEOC. "I have never seen this kind of blatant disregard for the law," says EEOC lawyer Mary Jo O'Neill. "You get the impression that Wal-Mart is an employer that, at the top, isn't committed to taking the [ADA] and federal employment laws seriously."
 

Discrimination on Wall St.? The Numbers Tell the Story

New York Times
By PATRICK McGEEHAN


Published: July 14, 2004

During several years of drawn-out litigation over how they treat the women they employ, Wall Street firms
have adamantly disputed all contentions that they discriminate - until the time has come to do the math.

Data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission show that men made up more than two-thirds of
 the officials and managers in the securities industry in 2002, even higher than the ratio in other industries.

The industry's own numbers look more lopsided. The Securities Industry Association says that more than half
of all employees in the securities industry are white men but, more important, white men fill about four out of five executive management positions and make up more than 70 percent of investment bankers, traders and brokers.

Despite the lawsuits (against Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, CitiCorp, and Duetschebank-ed.), the demographics
of Wall Street firms have not changed significantly in recent years, according to data compiled by the Securities
Industry Association. Indeed, men held a slightly higher percentage of the jobs in the industry last year compared
with the level in 1999. Meanwhile, women have continued to hold most of the low-level jobs like sales assistant, according to the association.