MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced Resource Employment Solutions (Resource) will pay $435,000 to resolve allegations of race and national origin discrimination.
EEOC alleged Resource, a temporary staffing agency, violated federal law by failing to place a class of African-American workers into temporary positions at a FedEx facility in Massachusetts due to their race and non-Hispanic national origin. The company allegedly gave preference to Hispanic workers. An African-American employee who complained about the discrimination was retaliated against, EEOC also charged.
"EEOC will continue to scrutinize the placement practices of temp agencies to ensure that irrelevant factors such as race and national origin play no role in staffing decisions," said C. Emanuel Smith, EEOC Birmingham, Ala., regional attorney. "We are pleased that Resource has committed itself to placing temporary employees based on merit."
In addition to the monetary settlement, the consent decree includes provisions for anti-discrimination training.
"Temp workers and other members of the 'gig economy' frequently live on the margins of society,” said Faye Williams, EEOC Memphis regional attorney. “This case should serve notice to employers that EEOC will not hesitate to step in and vigorously defend the rights of these often invisible workers."