Here is the latest issue of “This & That” Tuesday. I hope you find it to be informative and useful.

 

Announcements

You can always check out my website for upcoming speaking engagements that are guaranteed to be of value to business owners or for a list of topics that I can speak on at Chambers, Clubs, Business Associations, etc. More details about the events, topics and Human Resources 4U, in general, can be found on my website.

January 31, “How to Build a Hiring System for Consistent Performance” sponsored by Capstone Pacific Investment Strategies

 

February 11, “Leave Me Alone! An Overview of Leave Laws in California” workshop sponsored by Industry Manufacturers Council

 

Wet Seal Pays Out $7.5 Million in Race-Bias Suit

Teen clothing brand Wet Seal has reached a $7.5 million settlement over allegations that it horrendously discriminated against employees of color, because they didn't have the "white," "blue eye," "thin and blond" look the brand wanted, according to the EEOC.

Three former managers filed the lawsuit last year, accusing the nationwide retail chain of actively firing and denying raises and promotions to black workers. One plaintiff, former manager Kai Hawkins, said that her boss threatened to fire her unless she hired more white employees. Another, Nicole Codgell, claimed that she was fired the day after the company's senior vice president for store operations toured several outlets and sent an email to lower managers, "African American dominate — huge issue."

The lawsuit also accused senior vice president Barbara Bachman of commanding managers to "lighten up" the staff in stores serving mainly white customers, and telling one regional manager that she must have "lost her mind" to put a black person in charge of a certain store.

Wet Seal had denied the allegations. The company, calling the settlement a "no-fault resolution of the case," agreed to pay at least $5.58 million in damages to current and former African American managers, according to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. As part of the settlement, Wet Seal, which has over 7,000 employees, must also track applications to ensure diversity in hiring, expand its human resources department, post management openings, and regularly report on the hiring, promotions and firings of minority employees.

"Being targeted for termination from a job I loved because of my race was a nightmare," Cogdell said in a statement. "… Wet Seal has now committed to strong, fair policies because we took a stand. I hope these changes will create opportunities for all deserving employees, regardless of their race."

 

The Wet Seal case was a particularly extreme example, she said. "You rarely get situations where it's so explicitly recorded, in email, especially from someone at such a high level in the company."

But for many retail chains, there's a built-in bias when it comes to the question of who belongs. A 2012 survey of New York retailers by the worker advocacy group, Retail Action Project, and CUNY's Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies found that minority workers were more likely to have their hours reduced without their consent, and significantly less likely to get a promotion.

White employees also earned an average of $11.30 an hour, compared to $10.49 for black workers, and $9.45 for Latinos, according to the report. All of them earn more than the average Wet Seal sales associate, however. According to employment review site Glassdoor.com, he or she takes home just $7.90 an hour.

 

Jury Awards More Than $1.5 Million in Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Suit against New Breed Logistics

A jury has rendered a verdict of more than $1.5 million in the EEOC’s sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against New Breed Logistics, a North  Carolina-based logistics services provider.   The verdict followed a seven-day trial  before U.S. District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson on behalf of four claimants  and included awards of $177,094 in back pay, $486,000 in compensatory damages  and $850,000 in punitive damages for the discrimination victims.

 

The EEOC's lawsuit charged New Breed Logistics with subjecting three female employees in Memphis to sexual harassment and retaliating against the three female employees and one male employee for opposing the harassment in violation of Title VII.  Specifically, the jury found that New Breed, through the conduct of a warehouse supervisor, harassed three temporary workers by subjecting them to unwelcome sexual touching and lewd, obscene and vulgar sexual remarks at the company's Avaya Memphis area warehouse facility. 

 

Further, the EEOC charged and the jury found, a New Breed supervisor fired the three temp workers because they complained about the harassment.  In addition, the EEOC said, the supervisor also retaliated against a male employee by terminating him because he opposed the harassment and agreed to serve as a witness for several claimants during the company's investigation. 

 

In addition to the monetary damages awarded by the jury totaling $1,513,094, the EEOC also seeks an injunction prohibiting discrimination in the future by the defendant as well as other injunctive relief to be determined by the court.

 

Faye A. Williams of the Memphis District Office, said, "Memphis is often called 'America's Distribution Center.'  Temporary employees, as were the claimants in this case, are a vital part of the country's work force, helping businesses to distribute goods across the United States and the world in a timely and efficient manner.  Enduring sexual harassment by a supervisor should not be a part of the job.   We hope this case and this verdict serve to remind employers of their responsibility to protect temporary employees placed in their facilities to work.  Employers at the job site must provide a safe place for employees, including providing a sexual harassment policy to the workers, conducting training in the workplace about the policy and timely investigating claims of harassment."

 

Factoids

• 99.7% of employers have less than 500 employees.

Do you hold the right amount of meetings?

• Business owners: 21% too many, 52% the right amount
• Employees: 35% too many, 45% the right amount

 

How much influence do employees have on business decisions?

• Business owners: 74% believe employees sway their decisions
• Employees: 50% believe they have little to no influence

 

99.7% of employers have less than 500 employees.

 

Quotes

“Learning is not compulsory… neither is survival.”
~W. Edwards Deming~