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| Harassment Grand Slam |
National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL) will pay $255,000 to settle a multi-prong harassment lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to the EEOC, a manager for the discount chain in New York subjected South Asian employees to demeaning slurs about their race, religion, and national origin — plus he sexually harassed a female employee.
The female employee, a Sikh, wore a turban as part of her religious practices. The manager, who was accused of regularly making offensive comments about South Asian employees' ethnicity, national origin, and religion, then added sexual harassment to the mix.
Specifically, the EEOC says the manager instructed the woman to remove her turban because she "would appear sexier without it."
"Apparently this employer didn't mind hiring South Asians, but then turned around and subjected them to verbal abuse," said EEOC lawyer Spencer Lewis. "That's not only illogical and cruel, but outright illegal. Employees have a right under federal law to be free from harassment and other forms of discrimination."
"The EEOC hopes this settlement encourages employers to take steps to educate their managers and employees: harassing employees based on national origin, sex, or religion is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," said EEOC lawyer Margaret Malloy.
Besides paying the $255,000 to nine former workers, NWL will also provide training on federal anti-discrimination laws for all employees and managers at stores where the abusive manager worked, including West Hempstead, Farmingdale, Westbury, Long Island City, Flushing, and Rosedale. [EEOC v. National Wholesale (NY 2008)]
For information on this topic tailored to your company profile, request Memos: |
5890 Workplace Harassment
5830 Race Discrimination
5905 Sexual Harassment Based on Hostile Environment
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