BALTIMORE – Green JobWorks LLC, a staffing company located in Hanover, Md., violated federal law by subjecting female workers to sex discrimination in job assignments and assignment of work duties, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Green JobWorks has refused to hire female workers for demolition and laborer positions or to assign those workers to such positions because of their sex. The EEOC’s lawsuit also charges that Green JobWorks has regularly assigned workers to its business customers using sex-based criteria provided by those customers and has inquired whether its customers preferred workers of a particular gender. Green JobWorks management and supervisory employees have also made sex-based job assignments for demolition, laborer and cleaning positions and have refused to hire female workers in demolition and general laborer positions because of their gender, the lawsuit alleges.

Additionally, the EEOC’s lawsuit charges that Green JobWorks employees have communicated sex-based placement criteria to job seekers, including telling female workers who contacted Green JobWorks for employment that the company was only seeking to hire men for certain positions and certain assignments.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment, including refusing to hire or to make assignments on the basis of gender. The EEOC filed suit (U.S. EEOC v. Green JobWorks LLC, Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-01743-RDB) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (Northern Division) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

“Redressing and deterring class-wide sex discrimination by staffing agencies and other employers is a critical law enforcement priority,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence. “The EEOC is committed to protecting female workers in the community from bias and to promoting equality of opportunity for all workers without regard to their gender. We will not hesitate to commence court enforcement actions to protect workers from sex discrimination.”

Philadelphia District Director Jamie Williamson said, “This month marks the 57th anniversary of Title VII and its prohibition of sex discrimination in employment. Despite the fact that equal employment opportunity has been the law of this country for over half a century, sex discrimination remains a persistent problem in the job market. The EEOC will continue to be vigilant in its efforts to root out workplace gender bias in all of its forms.”

The lawsuit was commenced by the EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office, one of four component offices of the agency’s Philadelphia District Office. The Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.