In August 2000, the Houston District Office of the EEOC brought this suit against Trinity Industries, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. We do not have a copy of the EEOC's complaint. However, the intervenors' complaint alleged that the defendant discriminated on the basis of race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to promote the charging parties, Black employees, because of their race and retaliating against them for their complaints of the discrimination by negatively affecting the terms and conditions of their employment. Two of the charging parties intervened in the suit in October 2000. After some discovery disputes, the EEOC and the defendant appear to have reached a tentative settlement agreement in May 2001. However, the EEOC and the defendant reached a final settlement in June 2001 through a consent decree. It appears that the intervenors and the defendant did not settle until late November 2001 when they voluntarily dismissed the case.

The two-year consent decree between the EEOC and the defendant contained non-discrimination and non-retaliation clauses. In addition, it required the defendant to: post a non-discrimination notice, provide Title VII training for its human resources personnel, inform one of the charging parties of any job vacancies, fund six academic scholarships, distribute the consent decree, expunge the charging parties' personnel files from all references to the charges of discrimination, provide the charging parties with a neutral employment reference, and pay $60,000 to be divided between two individuals.

Justin Kanter - 08/08/2007


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