BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Legal Newsline) – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced Dec. 16 that Outokumpu Stainless USA LLC, an international steel manufacturing company with a plant in Calvert, Alabama, will pay $150,000 to resolve allegations of race discrimination.
According to EEOC, Outokumpu failed to promote Daniel Nickelson, Wallace Dubose, Steven Jones, Victor Oliver and Joshua Burrell to the position of team leader because they were African-American. Each candidate was allegedly highly qualified for the promotion, but was passed over by a less-qualified white applicant.
"Making employment decisions based on race, such as promoting white candidates over more qualified African-American candidates, strikes at the heart of why Title VII exists," said Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for EEOC's Birmingham District Office. "Although we have come a long way since Title VII was enacted, discrimination still occurs. EEOC will continue to pursue actions against employers who make employment decisions based on race rather than skill and experience."
In addition to the monetary penalty, Outokumpu will need to create new policies designed to prevent race discrimination in employment decisions, provide employees with anti-discrimination training, and post anti-discrimination notices in its workplace.
“Title VII protects all workers in the workplace from race discrimination,” said EEOC Birmingham District Director Delner Franklin-Thomas. “As this case demonstrates, EEOC is committed to enforcing the law when we see a violation in keeping with our mission to eradicate employment discrimination. "