The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) recently settled a lawsuit in Federal Court against Guardsmark LLC. The company will pay $52,500 to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC on behalf of Danielle Jones and other female employees of the company.
Guardsmark, citing costumer preference for male security guards allegedly assigned female employees to inconvenient and lower paying security guard posts. This type of discrimination is very prevalent in many industries, such as the labor trades.
In addition to monetary relief, U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein also is requiring the company to provide training for its managers and supervisors to prevent further discrimination in all forms.
"This settlement serves as reminder to businesses that a customer's preference to be staffed or served by workers of a particular gender is never an excuse to engage in illegal sex discrimination," said EEOC regional attorney Jim Sacher.