Female Supervisor Fired by Manager Who Wanted a Man in Her Position, Federal Agency Charged
ATLANTA - Stellar Management Group, Inc., doing business as QSI, a contract sanitations services company that provides sanitation services to meat processing facilities in middle Georgia, violated federal law when it fired a female supervisor because of her sex, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.
According to the EEOC's suit, Civil Action No., 5:13-tc-05000, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, the employee was promoted by QSI in or around December 2010 to a sanitation supervisor position. The employee was QSI's only female supervisor and her cleaning team was assigned to work at the Perdue chicken plant in Perry, Ga. According to the EEOC, QSI's area manager stated that he wanted to terminate the employee because, he said, women did not belong in supervisory positions. In late October 2011, the employee missed three days of work due to a personal legal matter. The EEOC said that her time off work was initially approved by company management. However, on Nov. 3, 2011, QSI fired her for allegedly failing to inform the company of her whereabouts during her absence. The EEOC also said that immediately after the female employee was fired, QSI placed a male supervisor in her position.
Employment discrimination based on sex is prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement. As part of the suit, the EEOC is seeking back pay and compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief prohibiting the company from engaging in any further employment practices that discriminate on the basis of gender.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.