In September 2003, the EEOC district office in Chicago, Illinois brought this action against CMC Service of Chicago, LLC, doing business as Great Clips for Hair, a regional beauty salon franchise, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint alleged, on behalf of a class of Hispanic employees, that the defendant violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, based on national origin, when it terminated employees who spoke any other language than English during working hours. After consenting to the exercise of jurisdiction by a magistrate judge and one settlement conference, the parties settled and a consent decree was entered in November 2004.

In the consent decree, the parties agreed that the defendant would refrain from retaliating and discriminating on the basis of national origin, pay the aggrieved parties at total of $75,000, post a consent decree notice, provide EEO training to all managers and assistant managers, adopt and distribute an anti-discrimination policy, and submit semiannual complaint/compliance reports to the EEOC. No fees or costs were awarded. The terms of the decree ran for two years.

Jason Chester - 07/17/2007


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