In September 2003, the EEOC district office in Houston, Texas brought this suit against Commercial Coating Service, Inc., a pipe coating contractor in the oil business, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The EEOC alleged race and color discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, a former employee of the defendant alleged that four co-workers constantly used racial slurs to refer to him, instead of his name. When he complained about the treatment nothing was done. After enduring this for months, a White male co-worker slipped a noose around his neck and a brawl began. The co-worker was fired, sent to prison, and a formal report was written.

The charging party intervened as a plaintiff. During the litigation, the complainant was awarded damages for non-pecuniary losses prior the the EEOC resolution of the case. The defendant moved for summary judgment, and the motion was granted as to the intervenor-plaintiff's tort claims. After a barrage of discovery motions, the parties settled and a consent decree was entered in March 2004. The employee was awarded $1,000,000 in damages, and the defendant agreed to make a formal apology and to plant a tree on the company's premises in honor of his employment.

The consent decree also stipulated that the defendant would refrain from retaliating or discriminating on the basis of color or race, issue a neutral cover letter, expunge employment records, discipline two supervisors, never provide employment to four named individuals, appoint an EEO consultant, adopt a racial harassment policy, provide EEO training, post EEO notices, implement a complaint system, make a good faith effort to recruit Black people, and submit semiannual compliance reports. No fees or costs were awarded. The terms of the decree ran for four years. The docket sheet does not show any further enforcement; the case was presumably closed in 2010.

Jason Chester - 06/26/2007


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