Tag Archives: EEOC

by | October 8, 2011 · 6:12 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Safety Risks: Complaints Filed With OSHA And EEOC Against Colorado Hotel For Firing Housekeeper After She "Complaied About Unsanitary Conditions"

“…A Denver woman says she was fired by Springhill Suites DIA because she complained about the unsanitary conditions at the hotel.“When I asked management to provide housekeepers on my cleaning crew with plastic gloves, I was told the gloves were too expensive,” said Dorothy Barrett-Wilson. “We were cleaning bathroom toilets and floors without gloves, something you don’t even do at home.”

The EEOC will investigate the charges of discrimination filed by Wilson, who says the hotel fired her when she made the complaint to OSHA.

Barrett-Wilson filed complaints with the Colorado Civil Rights Division and OSHA. The complaints also say the crew, which was mainly Hispanic and African, had no radio communication in case of emergencies on the floors.

Wilson also says the housekeepers were also being asked to clean 21 rooms a shift, when the norm is about 12 or 14. She also says workers had to handle dirty towels and linen, some of which had blood on them, with their bare hands.

For more:  http://www.kwgn.com/news/kdvr-feds-investigate-springhill-suites-dia-20111007,0,893504.story

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by | October 5, 2011 · 12:36 pm

Hospitality Industry Employment Liability Risks: "Employment Practices Liability Insurance" Does Not Cover Lawsuit Brought By EEOC According To A Federal Court; Insurance "Claims" Limited To Suits Brought By "Employees"

“…A federal court in Tennessee recently ruled that an employer’s employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) did not cover a $2.7 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by the EEOC… because the policy limited “claims” to proceedings brought by employees, and the EEOC was not Cracker Barrel’s employee…”

 The specific language in the policy defined a “claim” as “a civil, administrative or arbitration proceeding commenced by the service of a complaint or charge, which is brought by any past, present or prospective ‘employee(s)’ of the ‘insured entity’ against any ‘insured.’”

After 10 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store employees filed charges of race and/or sex discrimination with the EEOC, the EEOC sued Cracker Barrel under Title VII. Cracker Barrel eventually settled the underlying EEOC lawsuit, entering into a consent decree obligating it to place $2 million into a settlement fund. In addition, Cracker Barrel incurred more than $700,000 in defense costs.    

Although Cracker Barrel gave proper written notice of the EEOC lawsuit to its carrier, the Court ruled that Cracker Barrel was not entitled to recover any of the $2.7 million under its EPLI policy. The Court held that the language in the EPLI policy did not extend to the EEOC lawsuit because the policy limited “claims” to proceedings brought by employees, and the EEOC was not Cracker Barrel’s employee.

For more:  http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=21384c3f-95d2-424d-a68c-ecd547ebe694

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by | December 13, 2010 · 9:53 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Denver Hotel Forced To Pay $105,000 To Settle “Sex Discrimination” Suit Filed By “Equal Employment Opportunity Commission” (EEOC)

The suit alleged that the company denied an employee a promotion because of her gender, and “due to its discriminatory and stereotyped assumptions regarding [the worker’s] ability to do the job because of her status as a woman with young children.”

“Making assumptions about a woman’s ability to perform a job which are not grounded in fact, but instead on stereotyped assumptions about her inability to work long hours due to her child care responsibilities, is unlawful discrimination,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Mary Jo O’Neill.

The owner of Denver’s Brown Palace Hotel & Spa has agreed to pay $105,000 to settle a sex-discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC announced Wednesday.

The agency filed the suit on July 20 in U.S. District Court in Denver against Brown Palace owner Denver Hotel Management Co. Inc.

Discrimination based on a woman’s caregiver status is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC said.

At the time the suit was filed, Marcel Pitton, the hotel’s managing director, said the agency’s allegations were “unfounded,” and no admission of guilt was announced Wednesday.

“The Brown Palace Hotel is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a workplace free of unlawful discrimination. We are proud of our diverse workforce and the talent of our staff in delivering exceptional hospitality,” Pitton said in a July statement.

According to an EEOC statement, Denver Hotel Management has agreed “to revamp its discrimination policies and conduct training for all of its employees to explain how stereotypes concerning a person’s family responsibilities can constitute illegal sex discrimination.”

Read more: Brown Palace owner settles EEOC suit | Denver Business Journal

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by | October 2, 2010 · 11:18 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Filed A Federal Lawsuit Against Hotel Owners Alleging “Pattern Of Racial Discrimination” In Hiring Hispanics Over Black Applicants

A federal lawsuit filed Thursday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the owners of an Eastside hotel claims black housekeeping employees were fired after they complained that Hispanic workers were paid more for doing the same work.

The suit, which alleges a pattern of racial discrimination against the hotel’s housekeeping staff and job applicants, also said the black workers were openly told they’d be fired and replaced because Hispanics cleaned better and complained less.

The EEOC filed the suit claiming racial discrimination on behalf of five fired employees of the Hampton Inn, 2311 N. Shadeland Ave., plus a group of black applicants who sought jobs at the hotel.

The EEOC suit also claims the hotel management destroyed employment records sought by the agency going back nearly two years. Incidents in the suit allegedly occurred from September 2008 to June 2009.

The suit seeks back pay and reinstatement for the fired employees, and it seeks unspecified compensation for other blacks denied employment on the basis of their race.

Hotel owners New Indianapolis Hotels LLC and Hement Thacker of Georgia could not be reached for comment. Attorneys in Indianapolis and Georgia, who formerly represented the hotel owner, declined comment.

Though employment records have been destroyed, the EEOC estimated about 30 to 35 applicants sought work at the hotel and may have been denied work based on their race.

For more:  http://www.indystar.com/article/20101001/LOCAL1803/10010388/1003/BUSINESS/EEOC-s-bias-suit-targets-hotel-on-Eastside

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