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The Great EEOC Roundup: December Edition


As always, there are some recent EEOC cases that jump out at me when I review recent developments on that front.  Below are a couple EEOC cases and settlements that stand out:


EEOC Claim Against Costco to Proceed to a Jury

Recently, a federal district judge held that an EEOC claim that alleged that Costco violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (by failing to prevent a male customer from stalking and harassing a female employee) will proceed to a jury.  In denying Costco's motion for summary judgment, the court held that there was sufficient evidence to allow the claim to proceed.  Of note, the female employee was subjected to harassing behavior by the male customer for over a year and the conduct continued to escalate (including unwanted touching, "ominous" staring, and other intrusive actions.  The court found that there was evidence that Costco failed to take reasonable steps to stop the harassment, thus the hostile work environment claim was allowed to proceed to a jury.


EEOC Files Disability Discrimination Claim Against McDonald's

The EEOC filed a disability discrimination claim against McDonald's and McDonald's Restaurants of Missouri on the grounds that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") by refusing to accommodate and hire a deaf applicant.  According to the suit, Ricky Washington, who was deaf, applied for a position at McDonald's.  He indicated he had attended a school for the deaf on his application and that he had also previously worked at a McDonald's before.  When the manager of the location where Washington applied learned of the need for a sign language interpreter for the interview, she cancelled the interview and would not reschedule.  Even though other interviews were conducted with other applicants and new hires were made, Washington's interview was never rescheduled.  This alleged conduct violated the ADA by discriminating against Washington as a result of his disability.


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