The Chicago District Office of the EEOC brought this suit against Regis Corporation, an operator of hair salons, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in December 1999. According to the Notice required by the consent decree, "the EEOC alleged that Regis fostered or tolerated a working environment that was hostile to Hispanic employees and otherwise discriminated against Hispanic employees by enforcing an English-only policy along with other discriminatory actions, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Two complainants intervened in the EEOC's suit. The parties engaged in an unsuccessful settlement conference. The defendant moved for partial summary judgment twice; the first motion was granted in part and denied in part, and the second motion was denied as moot. The parties entered into a consent decree in July 2002. The two-year consent decree required the defendant to pay six complainants a total of $240,000; train its supervisors on national origin discrimination (including English-only policies); post a notice of the consent decree; and submit reports about discrimination complaints to the EEOC.

Kevin Wilemon - 06/03/2008


compress summary