The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit today against Springfield-based trucking company New Prime Inc. alleging sex discrimination.
The suit claims the company required that female truck driver applicants be trained only by female trainers, and in doing so, caused the applicants to be placed on a waiting list due to a lack of female trainers. According to the EEOC, the policy resulted in the female applicants either being delayed or denied employment, while male applicants were not subject to similar delays.
The suit names Deanne Roberts, who filed an EEOC charge in 2009, and claims that at least 100 women were adversely affected by the training policy since 2003.
Steve Crawford, Prime general counsel, could not be reached for comment by deadline.
The EEOC said in a news release it anticipates Prime will contend it established the policy to reduce claims of sexual harassment of female trainers.
“Employers cannot avoid their responsibility to provide a workplace without sexual harassment simply by placing roadblocks in the path of qualified female applicants,” said Barbara Seely, regional attorney for the EEOC's St. Louis District Office, in the release. “Instead of proactively training and monitoring male truck drivers to avoid sexual harassment, the company put in place a discriminatory procedure that effectively deprived women of the opportunity to work as truck drivers.”
The lawsuit seeks to end the alleged sexual discrimination and provide back pay and other damages for the women who are believed to have been adversely affected by the training policy, the release said.
The Prime lawsuit is the second EEOC suit in as many days delivered to Springfield companies. Yesterday, the
EEOC filed suit against Bass Pro Shops, alleging the company has, since at least November 2005, failed to hire black and Hispanic applicants for position in stores nationwide.[[In-content Ad]]
