In September 2000, the New Orleans District Office and Houston Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision (EEOC) filed this lawsuit against drug store Rite Aid Corp. and K & B Louisiana Corp, doing business as Rite Aid Corp., in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana alleging discrimination on the basis of gender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, the fourth amended complaint alleged that the defendant did not consider rehiring the complaining party when a new store opened since it believed a male would be better able to meet the physical demands of a Liquor Department Clerk.

Following four amendments of the complaint by the EEOC, one motion for summary judgment that was granted in part and another that was denied, and a $1,820 fine against the EEOC for excessive discovery that was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the case was heard before the judge in July 2002. The judge held that the EEOC prevailed against the defendant for engaging in an unlawful employment practice but ordered that no relief be awarded since the EEOC failed to prove cognizable danger existed
that Rite Aid would in the future take sex into account in making an employment decision. Both parties appealed the judgment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in September 2002, which affirmed the District Court's decision in October 2002.

Justin Kanter - 04/22/2008


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