ST. LOUIS (Legal Newsline) – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that New Prime Trucking Inc. has agreed to pay more than $3.1 million and make job offers to women allegedly victimized by the company’s unlawful discriminatory hiring practices.
Prime allegedly enacted a policy of only allowing female drivers to be trained by female drivers after the company was involved in a sexual harassment case. EEOC charged that this rule led to the company offering fewer roles to females. Because the company had very few female trainers, female applicants often had to wait long periods of time to receive opportunities.
“When women break into male-dominated fields, they are often trained by men. We should not expect that these women will be sexually harassed,” Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney of EEOC's St. Louis District, said. “It is disrespectful to men everywhere to assume that they will harass women if they work together in close quarters. Rather, employers have a responsibility to adopt strict anti-harassment policies and practices and enforce them so that all employees - regardless of sex - can work and succeed together."
Prime paid restitution, lost wages and damages to 63 women who were allegedly denied job opportunities.