by Patricia A. Schaeffer, Vice President-Regulatory Affairs
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a New York highway construction firm have settled a lawsuit alleging the company failed to hire an African American operating engineer. (EEOC v. Concrete Applied Techs. Corp. d/b/a/ CATCO Constr. Co., W.D.N.Y., No. 03-CV-0670). The company will pay $100,000 to the African American job applicant who filed the EEOC charge, and $50,000 in attorneys fees’ to his attorney, who intervened in the EEOC’s lawsuit.
The plaintiff alleged that he was a fully-certified operating engineer who repeatedly applied for employment with the company over a six-year period, but was denied a job because of his race. Under a consent decree, the company must adhere to specific written criteria in its hiring process outlined in the decree and cannot rely on “word of mouth recommendations.”
