NSC Chicken, LP, dba Chicken Express, will pay $15,000 and furnish other relief to settle a national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. According to the EEOC's suit, six Chicken Express franchise locations in Oklahoma systemically failed to pay Hispanic cooks at overtime wages as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The EEOC said the cooks were singled out for the non-payment because of their Latin American national origin.

The EEOC sought monetary relief for Kennedy Zapet, who filed the initial discrimination charge, and 11 other Hispanic employees who were victims of this practice. The EEOC and the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) cooperated in their investigation of Chicken Express's pay practices. During this cooperative investigation between the EEOC and the DOL and through a settlement with DOL, Chicken Express paid the affected employees back wages for their lost overtime.

The consent decree entered in the EEOC's suit provides an additional $15,000 payment to 12 employees. Chicken Express will also take action to prevent future discrimination, including changing the company's policy on setting wage and hour rates and overtime pay; posting an anti-discrimination notice to employees in Spanish and English; disseminating anti-discrimination policies to employees in Spanish and English; and providing anti-discrimination training to all management employees with supervisory responsibilities at each of the restaurants.

Eliminating discriminatory policies affecting vulnerable workers who may be unaware of their rights under equal employment laws or reluctant or unable to exercise them is one of six national priorities identified by the EEOC's Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP). These policies can include disparate pay, job segregation, harassment and human trafficking. Preventing workplace harassment through systemic litigation and investigation is another of the EEOC's six SEP national priorities.