Illinois Sports Apparel Chain Pay $420K to Settle Race/National Origin Discrimination Suit

A Chicago-area sports fashion chain will pay $420,000 to settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit, federal officials say.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said City Sports has more than 15 locations in Chicago and the surrounding area. The locations covered by the EEOC lawsuit include stores in Chicago, Harvey, Crest Hill, Bolingbrook and North Riverside.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, City Sports violated federal civil rights laws by refusing to hire and promote African Americans and Hispanics into management positions and instead favoring Koreans to fill management roles. City Sports also subjected two Black sales employees to harassment because of their race, the EEOC charged.

Such conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race and national origin. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (EEOC v. Palm USA Inc. d/b/a City Sports, et al., Civil Action No. 17-cv-6692), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

Under the consent decree settling the suit, City Sports will pay $420,000 to 19 current and former employees and agrees not to engage in race or national origin discrimination or retaliation. City Sports must hire a consultant to help implement objective hiring and promotion criteria, procedures, and recruiting practices. The consultant will also help implement anti-discrimination policies and procedures for investigating discrimination complaints. City Sports must also provide anti-discrimination training and report to EEOC on management selection and complaints of race or national origin discrimination and

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Illinois