Foundry's Leadership Subjected Employees to Discrimination and Harassment, Including Allowing a Noose to Hang in the Facility, Federal Agency Charged
CLEVELAND - Falcon Foundry Company, located in Lowellville, Ohio, has agreed to resolve a racial harassment class case which was filed against it by the Youngstown Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.
The NAACP filed a charge with the EEOC on behalf of some employees. The EEOC's resulting investigation revealed that one of Falcon Foundry Company's top officials subjected employees to derogatory racial comments and that there was a noose hanging in the facility. The EEOC also found that minority employees were disciplined for violating company policies while white employees who violated the same policies were not disciplined. On these bases, the EEOC found that a class of individuals were harassed and discriminated against because of their race, black; their national origin, Hispanic; or their association with a black or Hispanic employee. Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Falcon Foundry Company conducted an internal investigation, trained its employees, and terminated the company official to address the claims filed against it.
To settle the matter, all three parties - the EEOC, the NAACP and Falcon Foundry -- signed a conciliation agreement arranged by the EEOC. According to the multi-year agreement, Falcon Foundry will provide substantial monetary relief to identified victims. The company will hold managers and supervisors accountable for immediately addressing discrimination in the workplace and provide ongoing training to all employees. Company policies and procedures for dealing with discrimination will be revised and the company will report to the EEOC for the agreement's term.
"All employees have the right to work in an environment free of harassment and discrimination, and the EEOC is very pleased that Falcon Foundry Company worked with it to resolve this matter," said EEOC Philadelphia District Director Jamie R. Williamson.
The EEOC's Cleveland Field Office is one of four offices in the agency's Philadelphia District Office, which has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio.
The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.
