The Houston office of the EEOC brought this action in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, against Comet Rice Ingredients, Inc. d/b/a Comet Ventures, Inc or American Rice, Inc. The complaint, filed in September 1997, alleged disability discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; specifically that Defendant revoked job offers to a class of qualified job applicants based on back x-rays showing that each job applicant had a "Class V" back. The case was referred to mediation in February 1998 and the parties settled in April 1998.

A consent decree was entered in May 1998. The decree, valid for 2 years, required Defendant to pay the four charging parties a total of $38,000 (to be divided $12,000, $10,000, $8,000 $8,000). Defendant was also required to alter its hiring practices to insure that qualified applicants with "Class V" backs were provided with equal employment opportunities, offer fulltime employment to the charging parties, with four years service credit, and provide the EEOC with semiannual reports on the company's job offers, hiring and non-hiring of applicants with "Class V" backs.

Shankar Viswanathan - 06/29/2007


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