MEMPHIS, Tenn — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against a local distribution center and a staffing agency, accusing it of discriminating against Hispanic workers.
The EEOC lawsuit accuses Barrett Distribution Center and Supreme Staffing LLC, of violating federal civil rights law. The agency claims the companies retaliated against an employee who complained that Barrett discriminated against Hispanic applicants and workers.
The suit claims Supreme and Barrett removed a former account supervisor from Barrett’s worksite when he complained about the treatment of Hispanic persons at the Barrett site. The EEOC suit claims the companies fired the worker less than two months later.
The lawsuit asks for back pay and compensatory and punitive damages for the employee as well as an injunction against future discrimination.
“Employees must have the freedom to report unlawful behavior without fear of repercussion,” said Edmond Sims, acting district director of the EEOC’s Memphis District Office, in a news release. “This is particularly important in Memphis, where staffing agencies and their client companies comprise a significant portion of the workforce. We hope that this litigation places employers on notice that retaliation against employees will not be tolerated.”
Barrett is a warehousing, distribution and transportation company that operates more than two dozen facilities across North America.
Supreme is headquartered in Memphis and operates in several states in the U.S.
For more information on national origin discrimination, go to https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination. For more information on retaliation, go to https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.
Learn how to file a charge of employment discrimination at https://www.eeoc.gov/how-file-charge-employment-discrimination.
