On September 15, 2005, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit against House of Philadelphia, Inc., on behalf of an employee who was allegedly fired because she was pregnant. Seeking monetary and injunctive relief for the employee (including economic damage, compensation for emotional harm, and punitive damages), the EEOC brought suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex. The EEOC also sought to recover its costs.

Via private counsel, the employee filed a motion to intervene in the suit, which was automatically granted after the period for filing objections passed without incident. The employee brought claims under Title VII and state law and sought substantially the same relief as the EEOC, except that the complaint specifically sought reinstatement.

Eventually the parties came to a settlement agreement, which the Court (Judge Kristi K. DuBose) entered as a consent decree on Jan 10, 2009. The terms of the decree, which lasted 3 years, provided monetary and injunctive relief. The employee received $8,000, while House of Philadelphia, Inc., was required to institute and follow policies to eliminate sex discrimination and pregnancy discrimination from the workplace and to post and distribute the policies to employees. House of Philadelphia also had to provided yearly training to its employees explaining pregnancy and sex discrimination, informing them of its illegality, and explaining how to avoid it, who to file complaints with, and that managers would be evaluated for enforcing the anti-discrimination policies. House of Philadelphia was further required to investigate complaints adequately and report the results of each investigation to the EEOC. The 3-year decree period passed without court involvement and the case is now closed.

Kenneth Gray - 07/14/2013


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