On June 30, 2006, the Miami and Tampa offices of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit under Title VII against Applegate USA, Inc. (doing business as United Sheet Metal) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The EEOC alleged that the defendants had ...
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On June 30, 2006, the Miami and Tampa offices of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit under Title VII against Applegate USA, Inc. (doing business as United Sheet Metal) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The EEOC alleged that the defendants had violated the rights of the complainant, who worked for them as an administrative assistant, by terminating her when she informed them of her need to take maternity leave.
On November 7, 2006, the case was referred to mediation. On June 27, 2007, the parties notified the court that they had reached a settlement, and the EEOC filed a motion for dismissal. On July 3, 2007, the court dismissed the case, and two days later, the parties filed their consent decree with the court.
Under the terms of the decree, the defendants agreed to pay the complainant $90,000 in compensatory damages and $10,000 in backpay within 30 days of the entry of the consent decree. The defendants agreed to post and distribute to all employees notice of their employment rights under Title VII, and they agreed to provide annual training for three years for all of their employees regarding the employment laws and regarding their anti-discrimination policy. The defendants also agreed to provide specific training to all managers concerning the strict prohibition of retaliating against any employee who files a complaint alleging a violation of their civil rights. All materials used at these sessions were to be provided to the EEOC within 10 days, and the EEOC was to be 14 days before any session of the time and location of the training. The defendants agreed to file bi-annual written reports with the EEOC certifying their compliance with the terms of the decree, including a full report of all complaints that were made of harassment or retaliation during the reporting period and how the defendants handled those complaints.
The terms of the agreement were to run for 3 years. The docket sheet does not show any further enforcement took place; the case was presumably closed in 2010.
Justin Kanter - 05/03/2008
- 06/10/2017
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