In July 1998, the Seattle District Office of th EEOC filed this lawsuit against SCI Washington Funeral Services Inc., doing business as Miller-Woodlawn Funeral Home and Memorial Park, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington alleging retaliation 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 are unknown. However, it appears from the Proposed Consent Decree that the EEOC alleged the defendant was retaliated against for refusing to sign an employment agreement containing a mandatory arbitration clause. The complainant intervened in the lawsuit in September 1999. Following some discovery, the parties settled the lawsuit in August 2000 through a consent decree.

The three year decree, containing anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation clauses, required the defendant to: report on incidents of voluntary arbitration by employees and compliance reporting to the EEOC, develop an anti-discrimination policy, post notice of employee rights and provide EEO training.

David Friedman - 12/13/2007


compress summary