Asphalt Paving Systems to Pay $1.25M for Subjecting Black Workers to a Hostile Work Environment

Asphalt Paving Systems, Inc., an asphalt paving company with offices in Georgia, has agreed to pay $1.25 million and furnish “comprehensive injunctive relief” to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

According to the lawsuit, the company subjected Black employees to a hostile work environment. Specifically, Asphalt Paving Systems, Inc. is alleged to have subjected 12 Black former employees and a class of other Black employees to frequent and severe harassment because of their race. Black employees were forced to work in degrading and humiliating conditions. This includes being required to work in the pouring rain while white employees watched. They were also forced to urinate outside while white employees used indoor restrooms. Black employees were further subjected to being called racial slurs including the “n-word.”

The EEOC further alleges that the hostile work environment was made worse by physically threatening conduct. Managers and supervisors are alleged to have brought guns to worksites and, in one instance, actually reached for a gun.

Allowing your employees to conduct themselves in such a manner violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The consent decree

In addition to paying the former employees for subjecting them to a hostile work environment, Asphalt Paving Systems, Inc. will be required to provide specialized training on race discrimination to human resources officers and managers to ensure that they are aware of their obligations to stop workplace discrimination before it reaches a boiling point as it did here. The company will also be forced to put a system in place to address complaints.

The decree also requires Asphalt Paving Systems to appoint an outside monitor to review complaints of race-based harassment and provide the EEOC with reports of harassment complaints alongside what actions the company took to address those complaints.

Hostile work environments 

Harassment in the workplace violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. An employee cannot be subjected to offensive jokes, slurs, epithets, or name-calling. They cannot be subjected to physical threats of violence, intimidation, ridicule or mockery. Offensive objects or pictures can also constitute harassment.

To constitute a hostile work environment, the workers must be subjected to a pattern of unwelcome behavior that makes the environment intimidating, hostile, or offensive to reasonable people. One isolated incident (unless it’s extremely serious) does not rise to the standard of a hostile work environment.

Finally, the harassment must be based on a protected characteristic such as race. Other forms of harassment, while unpleasant, are not strictly illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Talk to an Atlanta, GA Hostile Work Environment Attorney Today 

The Forsythe Law Firm, LLC represents the interests of Georgia employees who have been subjected to harassment or misconduct in the workplace. Call our Atlanta employment lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin discussing how you can recover damages related to your backpay and more.

Source:

eeoc.gov/newsroom/asphalt-paving-systems-pay-125-million-eeoc-race-discrimination-lawsuit