In April 2003, the San Francisco District Office of the EEOC brought this suit against Barber Auto Sales, Inc. (d/b/a Barber Dealer Group and Barber Dodge aka Vallejo Dodge) and related businesses in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. We do not have a copy of the complaint; thus, the exact allegations involved are unknown. However, it appears from the consent decree that the complaint alleged discrimination on the basis of national origin, color, and religion. Specifically, the defendant subjected the five charging parties, Afghanistan employees who practiced Islam, to a hostile work environment because of their national origin, color, and religion. In addition, the defendant retaliated against the charging parties by terminating them after they complained of the discrimination. In June 2003, the charging parties intervened in the suit. After some scheduling orders, the parties settled in April 2004 through a consent decree.

The three-year decree, containing non-discrimination and non-retaliation clauses, required the defendant to: obtain an independent consultant to enforce its anti-discrimination policies and the provisions of the decree, revise and distribute its anti-discrimination policies, develop a complaint procedure, provide Title VII training, and report to the EEOC at specified intervals. In addition, the defendant agreed to: expunge the charging parties' personnel files from all references to the charges of discrimination and pay $550,000.

In March of 2004 a stipulation was agreed to and entered by and between the intervenors and the defendant, dismissing the Amended Complaint in Intervention with prejudice. This stipulation additionally stated that each party would bear its own attorney fees and costs.

Keri Livingston - 06/28/2007


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