EEOC Announces Record Settlement
The EEOC and Lockheed Martin have settled a race discrimination and retaliation claim for $2.5 million, a record for a race case involving a single claimant.
Charles Daniels, a Navy veteran formerly employed as an aviation electrician for Lockheed Martin, alleged that he was subjected to threats and racial epithets and was laid off in retaliation for his complaint.
Among other things, Daniels claimed that co-workers repeatedly called him the “N-word” and threatened to make him ”disappear” with the assistance of the Aryan Nation, a white supremacist group. He also alleged that a co-worker said: ”We should do to Blacks what Hitler did to Jews.”
Daniels says that after he complained to supervisors the harassment increased and he received more death threats. He alleges that company officials told him they would “blackball” him in the industry and ultimately laid him off in retaliation for his claims.
According to Lockheed, the conduct was isolated to “a small number of first-line employees in a small, single operating unit of the company.” It says that when management was made aware of the allegations, it “conducted investigations and took the appropriate remedial actions based on the facts presented at that time.”
As part of the settlement, the company agreed to terminate the alleged harassers, to make policy changes to deter future discrimination and to mandate extensive anti-harassment training.
Daniels’ attorney, Carl Varady, says that the case demonstrates the risks inherent when a company relies exclusively on its own internal investigation in matters of a serious nature. According to Varady, such companies are more interested in covering up the facts rather than conducting a true investigation and taking appropriate action.
The Lesson? In significant matters, consider having a neutral external person (e.g, an outside attorney) conduct the investigation. That investment could help ensure that you get all the facts, make the right decision and maybe even avoid a multi-million-dollar verdict.
