SALON

Monday, Apr 9, 2012 8:15 PM UTC

EEOC seeks rehearing in trucker harassment case

By

Topics: From the Wires,

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asked a federal appeals court Monday to reconsider a ruling that could hurt its ability to pursue class-action discrimination lawsuits on behalf of workers in the Midwest.

The agency filed a petition asking the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a February ruling that dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 100 women who claimed they were sexually harassed by male drivers at an Iowa trucking company.

The 2-1 ruling set a new standard requiring EEOC to identify every affected worker, investigate their claims and seek informal settlements before suing a company. The ruling affects lawsuits filed anywhere in the federal circuit that stretches from Arkansas to the Dakotas and sets a higher bar than the agency faces elsewhere.

EEOC General Counsel P. David Lopez said the standard would make it more expensive and time-consuming to bring large-scale harassment and discrimination cases. The agency has not yet issued guidance to investigators about the new standard, hoping the ruling will be overturned, he said.

“The panel’s unprecedented imposition of this new requirement will impede EEOC’s ability to enforce … civil rights laws in workplaces with the most widespread discrimination,” agency lawyers argued in Monday’s filing.

Federal rules say petitions for rehearing are granted infrequently and discouraged except for those cases “necessary to maintain and secure the uniformity of decisions or that raise questions of exceptional importance.” The judges who originally heard the case could take a second look or a majority of the 11 active judges on the court could decide to review the case.

Business groups are closely watching the case at a time when the EEOC has brought more class-action discrimination cases. They say the agency has been overly aggressive at times, bringing lawsuits that can cost millions before identifying the scope of the legal problems at issue.

The agency last year filed a record-high 23 systemic discrimination cases, Lopez said. Recent cases have led to a $20 million judgment against Verizon, Inc. over an attendance policy that allegedly discriminated against disabled workers and a $3 million settlement for black workers passed over for janitorial jobs at Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

Monday’s filing is the latest development in a lawsuit that accuses Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based CRST Van Expedited, Inc. of subjecting female truck drivers to a hostile workplace by failing to stop rampant sexual harassment in its training program.

Current and former female drivers say male trainers pressured them to have sex, made constant sexual remarks, groped and even assaulted them during cross-country drives that could last for weeks. The EEOC lawsuit was filed before the agency knew how many employees would be part of the case. The agency eventually identified 270 women, though only 150 showed up for depositions.

The agency’s tactics angered U.S. District Judge Linda Reade, who called them a “sue first, ask questions later litigation strategy,” dismissed the lawsuit and ordered the EEOC to reimburse the trucking company $4.4 million in legal fees. The appeals court largely upheld Reade’s decision dismissing the case, but threw out the fee award.

EEOC alleged Monday that the trucking company misled its investigator by claiming executives were aware of fewer internal harassment complaints than had been lodged.

“It is particularly inappropriate to fault EEOC for not identifying victims during the investigation when CRST knowingly withheld that information,” the filing said. “The majority’s rule all but encourages employers to lie to EEOC during investigations with the hope of benefiting later if EEOC attempts enforcement in court.”

The company’s top lawyer, Eric Baker, did not return a phone message Monday. In an interview last month, he said the firm took complaints seriously and would be exonerated.

More Ryan J. Foley.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments are not enabled for this story.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations