The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has resolved a lawsuit TCI of Alabama, LLC for violating federal law after it fired an employee in retaliation for cooperating with an internal investigation pertaining to its hiring practices of female applicants. It’s an interesting case in which the discrimination complaint began from an applicant, but the real meat of the case was about the employee who was fired for telling the truth.
Retaliation prohibited under Title VII
A female job applicant filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC after not getting hired on at TCI. TCI, a company specializing in “expert removal, recycling, and disposal of transformers and other oil-filled electrical equipment,” conducted an internal investigation and interviewed a manager who had been with the organization for over 28 years. The manager told the investigator that the company had not typically hired female applicants from the beginning.
TCI’s president asked the manager to change his story, multiple times and under pressure. The manager did not recant. He was terminated. The EEOC’s lawsuit contends that was illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits firing an employee for fighting back against discrimination or for participating in an investigation about discrimination.
Lawsuit settlement includes monetary relief
The fired employee will receive $90,000 under the settlement of the lawsuit. In addition, TCI will be required to offer annual, mandatory training to all employees, managers, and owners about Title VII discrimination and protections. TCI will also have to post notices about the settlement to its other employees and distribute information about anti-retaliation policies to all employees and the staffing agencies that it uses.
Telling the truth in any investigation pertaining to discrimination is protected under federal law and should be rewarded. Don’t be that employer who persecutes employees who stand up for what’s right.
Dawn Brotherton is a Sr. Staff Writer at The American Genius with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is an experienced business writer with over 10 years of experience in SEO and content creation. Since 2017, she has earned $60K+ in grant writing for a local community center, which assists disadvantaged adults in the area.
