MILWAUKEE, Wisc. (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced May 11 that Scion Dental Inc. has been ordered to face trial for alleged racial discrimination brought forth by an EEOC lawsuit.
Scion Dental had motioned to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed by EEOC in September 2016. The EEOC had charged Scion Dental, which provides dental benefit administration services, refused to hire an African-American temporary employee into a permanent position because of her race.
According to U.S. Magistrate Judge David E. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the EEOC supplied enough evidence for the case to go to trial. The EEOC alleged the employee, Nartisha Leija, was qualified for the position she sought. Leija twice applied for the position, and during that time the company hired nine employees who were not African-American. Scion Dental said it was concerned that Leija did not hold a college degree, but some of the other employees hired did not have degrees either.
The EEOC's Chicago District office oversees agency operations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, and uses area offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.