A $1 million settlement has been reached between a Rochester roofing contractor and a group of African-American employees in a racial discrimination lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed Elmer W. Davis Inc. gave out unfair assignments to its African-American employees and subjected them to discrimination and harassment.
The owners of a family tractor business in Iowa have agreed to a $500,000 settlement with a former female employee in a sexual harassment lawsuit. Sandra Peddicord claimed in her lawsuit that Kelly and Kevin Housby, the owners of Housby Mack Inc., “made unwelcome comments about her body and gave her unwanted hugs and kisses.” She also claims that she was fired after telling someone about the atmosphere at work.
An ex-reporter at the twenty-four-hour cable-news television channel New York 1 has filed a lawsuit against one of the company’s executives, claiming he tolerated sexual harassment in the newsroom. Adele Sammarco claims that Steve Paulus, a senior vice president of news, allowed and participated in crude sexual conversations on multiple occasions with both male and female staff members. When Sammarco complained about the situation in 2001, she claimed she was fired. The trial is currently ongoing.
A group of female workers for Novartis has received a $152.5 million settlement from the company in a gender discrimination lawsuit. The lawsuit, which represents more than 5,000 Novartis female employees in the U.S., claims that the women faced differential treatment regarding “pay and promotion and for pregnancy.”
As part of the settlement, Novartis will also spend the next three years working to improve its personnel policies.
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A group of northern California firefighters has filed a lawsuit against the Menlo Park Fire Protection District over the time they spend picking up uniforms and other gear before their shifts begin. The lawsuit claims that firefighters should be paid for the time they spend driving to different stations and picking up and dropping off gear.
The employees’ lawsuit is seeking “monetary damages in the form of full back pay compensation, liquidated damages equal to their unpaid compensation, plus interest.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to a $750,000 settlement with a former employee, lawyer Gary Aguirre, who claimed he was wrongfully terminated. In his lawsuit, Aguirre said he was fired “for aggressively pursuing an insider-trading case involving the hedge fund Pequot Capital Management.”
Gary Aguirre said that he was fired because the SEC showed preferential treatment to the man he was investigating, current Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack.
A jury has awarded a San Francisco woman $113,800 in a lawsuit she filed against Lucasfilm Ltd. after the company allegedly refused to hire her because she was pregnant. Julie Veronese claimed in her lawsuit that in April 2008 she as given a temporary job with Lucasfilms as an assistant and promised a permanent position. However, when she told her supervisor she was pregnant, Veronese says the job offer was rescinded.
The city of Philadelphia has agreed to a settlement with a group of African-American firefighters in a lawsuit that alleged that some white firefighters made racist comments while on duty. The lawsuit also claimed that city computers were used to post “racially harassing and discriminatory materials and comments” on the union’s own website, creating a hostile work environment. As part of the settlement, the city will pay $15,000 in legal fees and provide additional diversity training.
The city of Fresno, Calif., has reached a $3.35 million settlement with a local woman who claims she was forced out of the Fresno Fire Department’s training academy because of her gender. Michelle Maher stated in her lawsuit that she was set up to fail by fire training academy supervisors and that her exams were graded unfairly. As part of the settlement, the city will dismiss its appeal.
An Arizona electrical company has agreed to a $100,000 settlement in a lawsuit accusing them of racially discriminating against one of their employees. Victor Cortez claimed in the lawsuit that starting in 2003, his supervisor at Cannon & Wendt began making racist statements towards him and berated him about his nationality. Cortez also claims that after he complained to the company owner about the incidents, he was fired.
ALABAMA WORKERS' COMPENSATION LAW 