In February 2000, the Los Angeles District Office and Washington Office of the EEOC filed this lawsuit against Pacific Maritime Association, the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, and the Union's Local 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging discrimination on the basis of national origin in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We do not have a copy of the complaint; therefore the exact allegations involved are unknown. However, it appears from the Consent Decree that the complaint alleged the defendant's requirement that applicants complete a test regarding their basic adult education discriminated against Black, Hispanic, and Asian persons. Following some discovery, the parties settled the lawsuit in June 2000 through a consent decree.

The two year decree, containing an agreement not to retaliate, required the defendant to: make compliance reports, keep records, allow access for compliance monitoring, provide the opportunity for a specified individual to receive retroactive seniority and pay pending successful completion of a test of permitted skills, post and distribute notice, implement a dispute resolution process, agree not to use basic education testing, and pay $2,751,257 plus interest into a fund for an unspecified number of class members. Following the consent decree, some court action was required in order to include late class members.

Daisy Manning - 04/11/2008


compress summary