Janitorial Company Paid Female Employee Lower Wages Than Male Counterpart and Retaliated Against Her, EEOC Charged

WASHINGTON - Vador Ventures Inc., doing business as Total Quality Building Services, a commercial janitorial services company in the Washington D.C. metro area, will pay $36,461 and furnish other relief to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC's suit, Vador Ventures paid day porter Sonia Rivera a lower wage than her male counterpart for equal work. Rivera's duties included providing various janitorial services at a worksite in Reston, Va. The suit further contended that after Ms. Rivera complained about the wage disparity and asked that her wages be increased, the company retaliated by assigning her additional work, subjecting her to verbal harassment, and firing her. The EEOC suit contended that the company's actions violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The suit against Vador Ventures Inc. was filed in September 2017 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria Division), Civil Action No. 1:17-cv-01083-TSE-IDD.

On Jan.17, 2018, the court entered a consent decree resolving the case. Vador Ventures will pay $36,461 to Rivera for full back pay and other damages alleged by the EEOC. In addition, the decree includes an injunction prohibiting sex-based pay discrimination and retaliation; requirements that Vador Ventures distribute discrimination and retaliation prevention policies in English and Spanish; provide anti-discrimination training; retain pay data for relevant jobs; and allow monitoring by the EEOC.

"The EEOC takes seriously the problem of sex discrimination in pay," said Mindy E. Weinstein, acting director of the EEOC's Washington Field Office. "The successful resolution of this case is a step forward in the EEOC's ongoing effort to ensure that women are paid the same as men for equal work."

Philadelphia District Office Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence added, "We are pleased that Vador Ventures worked with the EEOC to achieve an early resolution of this case and agreed to fully compensate Ms. Rivera for the wage disparity alleged by the EEOC."