Health Care Services & Staffing Agency Accused of Fostering Racially Charged Hostile Work Environment
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In recent news, did Cardinal Health and Howroyd-Wright Employment Agency foster a racially charged, hostile workplace?
The Case: EEOC v. Cardinal Health and Howroyd-Wright Employment Agency dba AppleOne Employment Services
The Court: U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
The Case No.: 5:19-cv-00941
The Plaintiff: EEOC v. Cardinal Health
The retaliation discrimination lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, African American workers employed by Cardinal Health or assigned to work at the Cardinal Health location under the AppleOne staffing agency, endured unwelcome (and ongoing) racial harassment. When employees complained about the hostile work environment and racial harassment, neither Cardinal Health or AppleOne took appropriate, timely corrective action. Additional allegations were made that employees that complained about the situation experienced retaliation, discipline, and termination. In addition, some employees felt they had no choice but to quit due to the hostile environment and lack of response to complaints regarding the situation.
The Defendant: EEOC v. Cardinal Health
The defendant in the case, Cardinal Health, is a global health care services and products company providing solutions for hospitals, health systems, medical offices, pharmacies, and ambulatory surgery centers
The Case: EEOC v. Cardinal Health
The defendant in the case, Cardinal Health, agreed to pay $1.45 million to resolve the racial harassment and retaliation discrimination lawsuit. Both Cardinal Health, and the California-based staffing agency, AppleOne, agreed to implement sweeping injunctive relief as a term of the settlement. The injunctive relief is designed to prevent future instances of workplace harassment, discrimination and workplace retaliation. Some of the specific terms of the agreement have the defendants retaining an equal employment opportunity (EEO) monitor, conducting regular audits, reviewing and revising policies to prohibit and prevent discrimination, and distributing the policies to both temporary and permanent employees. The defendants will also develop and institute an internal complaint management process.Additionally, the defendants agreed to maintain a toll-free complaint hotline and offer discrimination training for employees.
If you have questions regarding employment law and how it protects California employees from discrimation, get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.
