Teh One Who Knocks
10-04-2011, 03:41 PM
By John Ingold - The Denver Post
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed suit on behalf of three fired white workers against the owners of a Craig hotel the agency alleges discriminated against them.
The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Denver, claims the owners of the Hampton Inn franchise in Craig fired the workers because they are white and "it was their impression that such workers are lazy," the case filing states.
"n their opinion Hispanics worked harder," the lawsuit alleges.
Employment-discrimination lawsuits undertaken directly by the EEOC are infrequent, and lawsuits filed alleging discrimination against white workers are even less common. Most cases — including several filed around the country in the last week — accuse companies of filing to hire or promote non-white employees.
"I've been doing this work for 30-some years, and I've never filed a case like this," EEOC Regional Attorney Mary Jo O'Neill told the Associated Press.
The lawsuit is one of four the EEOC has filed in the last week in Denver. The other suits accuse Beverage Distributors Company in Colorado of disability discrimination and H&E Equipment Services and The Original Honeybaked Ham Company of Georgia of gender discrimination.
Overall, the EEOC has filed six employment suits in Colorado this year.
The Hampton Inn suit accuses the hotel's owners — Century Shree Corporation and Century Rama, Inc. — as well as those companies' owners — Falgun Patel, Mukund Partel and Piyush Patel — of race discrimination.
Tim Kingston, an attorney for the hotel, said he only received the lawsuit Monday and hadn't been able to discuss it with his clients. He declined comment.
According to the complaint, the hotel hired the three workers — Wendy Buckley, Ashlee Flannery and Dewetta McKnight — shortly before it opened in 2009 to work in the laundry and housekeeping departments. All three workers were fired later that year and replaced by Latino employees. By the end of the year, all workers in the laundry and housekeeping departments were Latinos, according to the complaint.
The suit also accused the companies of failing to sufficiently preserve employment documents.
The lawsuit asks for the workers to get their jobs back and receive back pay.
"Employers cannot choose employees based on the color of their skin or their ancestry," O'Neill said in a statement Monday announcing the lawsuit. "This form of blatant discrimination clearly violates federal law."
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed suit on behalf of three fired white workers against the owners of a Craig hotel the agency alleges discriminated against them.
The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Denver, claims the owners of the Hampton Inn franchise in Craig fired the workers because they are white and "it was their impression that such workers are lazy," the case filing states.
"n their opinion Hispanics worked harder," the lawsuit alleges.
Employment-discrimination lawsuits undertaken directly by the EEOC are infrequent, and lawsuits filed alleging discrimination against white workers are even less common. Most cases — including several filed around the country in the last week — accuse companies of filing to hire or promote non-white employees.
"I've been doing this work for 30-some years, and I've never filed a case like this," EEOC Regional Attorney Mary Jo O'Neill told the Associated Press.
The lawsuit is one of four the EEOC has filed in the last week in Denver. The other suits accuse Beverage Distributors Company in Colorado of disability discrimination and H&E Equipment Services and The Original Honeybaked Ham Company of Georgia of gender discrimination.
Overall, the EEOC has filed six employment suits in Colorado this year.
The Hampton Inn suit accuses the hotel's owners — Century Shree Corporation and Century Rama, Inc. — as well as those companies' owners — Falgun Patel, Mukund Partel and Piyush Patel — of race discrimination.
Tim Kingston, an attorney for the hotel, said he only received the lawsuit Monday and hadn't been able to discuss it with his clients. He declined comment.
According to the complaint, the hotel hired the three workers — Wendy Buckley, Ashlee Flannery and Dewetta McKnight — shortly before it opened in 2009 to work in the laundry and housekeeping departments. All three workers were fired later that year and replaced by Latino employees. By the end of the year, all workers in the laundry and housekeeping departments were Latinos, according to the complaint.
The suit also accused the companies of failing to sufficiently preserve employment documents.
The lawsuit asks for the workers to get their jobs back and receive back pay.
"Employers cannot choose employees based on the color of their skin or their ancestry," O'Neill said in a statement Monday announcing the lawsuit. "This form of blatant discrimination clearly violates federal law."