A pair of TFI International subsidiaries agreed to pay $460,000 to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit alleging two gay mechanics were harassed, terminated and retaliated against, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Monday.
Under the settlement, TA Dedicated and Transportation Enterprise Services will provide back pay and more than $300,000 in compensatory and other statutory damages to the two discrimination victims, the agency said.
The subsidiaries denied the allegations.
The consent decree resolving the lawsuit requires the establishment of a third-party, toll-free hotline where employees can report harassment anonymously, as well as additional training for human resources personnel on properly handling harassment complaints.
The additional HR trainings aren’t limited to the two subsidiaries. They’re required for all such HR officials employed by either of the subsidiaries as well as “any other sister company, parent company, or affiliate,” the decree said.
Non-supervisory employees, including drivers, and new employees will also be required to take additional training about harassment, discrimination and retaliation; legal and company prohibitions on such conduct; penalties; and the new hotline.
TA Dedicated and Transportation Enterprise Services will be required to track charges, complaints, reports and investigations of sex discrimination, sex harassment and retaliation through a centralized Excel sheet, according to the consent decree.
“We are pleased this settlement provides meaningful compensation to the mechanics who suffered harassment because of their sexual orientation and retaliation for speaking up,” Debra Lawrence, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office, said in the announcement. “And the reporting hotline, training, tracking, posting, and EEOC monitoring required by the consent decree should help ensure that other LGBTQI+ persons don’t have to endure similar abuse.”
TFI declined to comment Tuesday on the settlement.
“Employers have a responsibility to protect their employees from harassment because of sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity,” EEOC Cleveland Field Office Director Dilip Gokhale said in the announcement. “The EEOC remains committed to holding employers accountable in that regard.”
Editor's note: This story was updated to add TFI declined to comment.
Trucking Dive reporter David Taube contributed to this article.
