$1.45 Million Settlement in Sex Bias Case
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Friday, June 12, 2009 |
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a major settlement of a sex discrimination lawsuit for $1,450,000 and significant equitable relief against Schott North America, a multinational developer and manufacturer of special glass and specialty materials, components and systems, based in Elmsford, N.Y.
The EEOC charged that Schott laid off women because of their sex after a company reorganization in October 2004 of its specialty glass plant in Duryea, Pa. Prior to the reorganization, glass production at the plant was generally divided into two parts, the "hot end" and the "cold end"; 95.3% of the hot-end workers were male and 76.6% of the cold-end workers were female.
As part of the reorganization, the company created a new position of "melting line operator" and used a "skills matrix" to determine who would obtain these new positions. The glass company laid off employees whom it did not select for the melting line operator position. In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that the skills matrix system benefited male employees, did not accurately measure the skills truly needed to perform the melting line operator job and had an adverse impact on female applicants – who were selected for layoff at a significantly higher rate than male employees. The EEOC contended that six plaintiff intervenors and five class members were not selected for melting line operator positions and were laid off because of their sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Acting EEOC Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said, "This significant settlement demonstrates the EEOC's commitment to securing meaningful relief for victims of systemic sex discrimination."
In addition to the $1.45 million in monetary relief, the three-year consent decree provides substantial equitable relief, including: injunctive relief enjoining Schott from engaging in unlawful discrimination under Title VII or retaliation; annual anti-discrimination training of all supervisors and managers at the Duryea, Pa. facility; and the posting of a notice about the settlement.
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