Bias claim against C-suite shows need for company-wide training: $85K payout
By
In this case, the EEOC sued on behalf of three Hispanic women who alleged that two C-suite executives in Texas created a hostile work environment.
Who was involved: Alden Short and Hinson Jennings, a Dallas-based property management company, and three Hispanic female employees.
Cringeworthy comments: C-suite exec said what!?
What happened: According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the owner and the chief operating officer (COO) of the company subjected the women to a hostile work environment by making inappropriate comments about the women’s “heritage, their parents, and children all relating to their national origin.” For example, the COO allegedly told one woman that “he could treat her any way he wanted to because she is Mexican.”
Result: The company agreed to pay $85,000 to the women to settle the dispute. Under a three-year consent decree, the company must also:
- Develop and implement a new employee handbook, and
- Provide annual training to all employees on discrimination.
Info: Property Management Company to Pay $85K to End EEOC’s National Origin Discrimination Suit, 4/6/23.
Further Reading
FMLA Intermittent Leave: 8 Questions HR Asks Most
Partial days, doctor’s notes, late arrivals. If intermittent FMLA leave keeps you guessing, these eight answers can help clear things up for HR.
Unpaid Pre-Shift Work Costs New Jersey Employer $725K
A New Jersey drywall installer must pay $725,000 after failing to pay 48 workers overtime for pre-shift work performed while they waited for transportation to job sites. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division found P & B Partitions Inc. violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime rules. The company also refused […]
Connecticut Joins States Regulating Workplace AI: 7 Compliance Steps
Connecticut is putting employers on notice over workplace AI. Effective Oct. 1, 2026, SB 5 clarifies that Connecticut employers facing a discrimination claim can’t blame the artificial intelligence (AI) tools they use to make hiring, promotion, discipline or termination decisions. Other changes that kicked in the same day: And there’s more coming. The law’s second […]
USCIS Plans to Abolish 60-Day Grace Period for Certain Nonimmigrant Workers
On Sept. 11, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that, if adopted, would eliminate the 60-day grace period currently granted to most nonimmigrant workers in H-1B, H-1B1, E-1, E-2, E-3, L-1, O-1 or TN status who abruptly lose their positions. The grace period has been in place since […]
Pa. Court Sets 3-Year Deadline for Minimum Wage Act Claims
Pennsylvania employers face a three-year window for employees to sue over unpaid minimum wages or overtime under state law, rather than the six years a trial court previously allowed. The ruling came in a case involving 20 pharmacy employees seeking overtime for work done from 2017 to 2019. The employers argued the claims were filed […]
Hidden Payroll Rounding Risk: Unpaid Pre-Shift Time Under Scrutiny
Required pre-shift tasks – and whether employees are paid for them – are at the center of a former hospital nurse’s wage dispute. Chestnut Hill Hospital required nurses to change into surgical scrubs by 7 a.m. for a morning huddle. Pamela McBride sued under the Fair Labor Standards Act, alleging the hospital didn’t pay her […]