$10 million settlement reached in bias case

A federal judge granted preliminary approval to a $10 million settlement in lawsuit against a major freight hauling company whose black employees at Elk Grove Village and Chicago Heights facilities were discriminated against.

YRC Worldwide Inc. has agreed to pay $10 million to end the case, which was scheduled for trial on Oct. 12.

More than 300 current and former employees of YRC and its predecessor, Roadway Express, who worked between March 2002 and the present will share the award.

The lawsuit alleged that the company subjected black employees at the two suburban facilities to racially hostile working environments and racial discrimination in terms and conditions of employment.

"It is dispiriting that the severe racial stereotyping and harassment alleged in this case continues to be a problem," said U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Jacqueline Berrien. "This settlement embodies the agency's 45-year struggle against this scourge on the American workplace."

The EEOC was prepared to present evidence in the trial that black employees were subjected to multiple incidents of hangman's nooses, racist graffiti and racist comments and cartoons, according to an EEOC release.

The commission also planned to present evidence that black employees were subjected to harsher discipline and scrutiny than their white counterparts and were given more difficult work assignments, according to the release.

"No one should have to endure degrading racial harassment in order to earn a living," said P. David Lopez, general counsel of the EEOC.

The EEOC claims that black employees had complained about the working conditions over the years, but no effective corrective action was ever taken.

The settlement will require the freight corporation to develop revised anti-harassment policies and specific record-keeping of complaints. It also requires the company to appoint a monitor to oversee the company's response to complaints.