On February 1, 1996, the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed an employment discrimination lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against the Beaumont Housing Authority (BHA), under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. According to the DOJ press release of October 14, 1997, the DOJ alleged that the defendant discriminated on the basis of race in hiring and promotion.
On the same day, the parties jointly moved the court for provisional entry of a consent decree. On February 20, 1996, the District Court (Judge Thad Heartfield) granted the motion for provisional entry and set the date for a fairness hearing.
On April 18, 1996, the court ordered final entry of the consent decree following a fairness hearing. Under the consent decree, the defendant was required to take steps to comply with the law and was barred from taking retaliatory action against any person who reports discriminatory conduct.
On February 11, 1997, the DOJ moved the court to reopen the case for supplemental relief. On February 26, 1997, the motion was denied. On March 31, 1997, the DOJ moved the court to find the defendant in contempt for terminating an employee in violation of the consent decree. The contempt motion asserted that that an employee of the defendant was terminated because she reported another employee's allegation of sexual harassment by a supervisor. The DOJ also sought consolidation with a related case. On July 17, 1997, the motion to consolidate was granted.
On October 9, 1997, the case was referred to mediation. On October 16, 1997, the court entered a supplemental consent decree. According to the DOJ press release on October 14, 1997, under the terms of the settlement, the defendant agreed to pay the harmed employee approximately $30,000 in monetary relief in exchange for release all of her claims against the BHA. The agreement permitted the DOJ to increase its monitoring of the defendant's personnel practices. The defendant agreed to increase training for all employees regarding federal anti-discrimination laws, and procedures for handling employees' reports of sexual harassment. The parties agreed to a two-year extension on the life of the original consent decree
On October 24, 1997, the defendant moved the court to sever the consolidated case. On November 17, 1997, the court denied the defendant's motion to sever.
On January 10, 1998, the court entered the final judgment that the plaintiff from the consolidated case shall recover nothing from the defendant.
This case is closed.
Kaitlin Corkran - 04/05/2008
Zhandos Kuderin - 07/10/2014
compress summary
