Filed Date: Sept. 30, 2003
Closed Date: 2012
Clearinghouse coding complete
On September 30, 2003, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed this suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against defendant First Wireless Groups, Inc. The case was assigned to Judge Joanna Seybert. The EEOC alleged discrimination on the basis of race and national origin in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and retaliation for participating in protected activities. Specifically, the complaint alleged the defendants paid Hispanic employees less than Asian employees even though the Asian employees were less productive. In addition, the complaint alleged that Asian employees retaliated against Hispanic employees and management following their opposition of the discrimination via intimidation, removal of privileges, banning the speaking of Spanish and terminating or constructively discharging a number of employees who signed a petition.
On October 23, 2003, thirteen plaintiffs filed a motion to intervene on the lawsuit; all were represented by the same (private) attorney. Judge Seybert granted the motion in August 2004. The intervenors filed their own complaint in November 2003 where they made nearly identical allegations to those of the EEOC. Again in 2005, another plaintiff moved to intervene with very similar allegations. Her motion was granted, too bringing the total number of claimants (whose claims underlay the EEOC lawsuit) and intervenors to several dozen.
After several years of discovery, the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment in March 2007. The defendant argued that evidence from discovery showed that, even assuming all of plaintiffs’ evidence was true, no discrimination took place. In February 2008, Judge Seybert granted in part and denied in part the defendant’s motion; she found that the disparate pay claim turned on contested factual issues, and therefore should proceed to trial. The Court found, also, that there were disputed facts relating to whether two particular individuals faced retaliation. Accordingly, the court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the retaliation claim for two claimants but granted the motion for everyone else.
On October 30, 2008, the EEOC and plaintiff-intervenors entered into a consent decree with First Wireless. While the defendant did not admit fault, it agreed to pay $435,000 in back pay and compensatory damages, inclusive of attorneys fees. In addition, First Wireless agreed to post a notice of the settlement in a space visible to employees, provide neutral references for aggrieved employees, require all supervisory employees to undergo eight hours of equal employment training, and provide reports to the EEOC every six months for four years, the duration of the consent decree.
No further action is noted on the docket of this case and it is presumably closed.
Summary Authors
Hope Brinn (10/5/2018)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5381904/parties/equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-first-wireless-group-inc/
Bissell, Katherine (New York)
Caiola, Michelle Anne (New York)
Diaz, Estela (New York)
Dreilinger, Lauren G. (New York)
Feather, David S. (New York)
Seybert, Joanna (New York)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5381904/equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-first-wireless-group-inc/
Last updated March 27, 2024, 3:08 a.m.
State / Territory: New York
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Sept. 30, 2003
Closing Date: 2012
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on behalf of one or more workers.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
First Wireless Group, Inc. (Suffolk, New York), Private Entity/Person
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Title VII (including PDA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree
Amount Defendant Pays: 435,000
Order Duration: 2008 - 2012
Content of Injunction:
Post/Distribute Notice of Rights / EE Law
Provide antidiscrimination training
Issues
General:
Discrimination-area:
Discharge / Constructive Discharge / Layoff
Other Conditions of Employment (including assignment, transfer, hours, working conditions, etc)
Discrimination-basis:
National origin discrimination
EEOC-centric:
Private Party intervened in EEOC suit
National Origin/Ethnicity: