Texas Oilfield Services Firms to Pay $1.2M to Settle Federal Race Discrimination Suit

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Two Houston-based oil field services companies have agreed to pay a total of $1,225,000 to settle a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by federal officials.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Nabors Corporate Services Inc. and C&J Well Services Inc. will pay the settlement amount to nine black employees and one of their white co-workers.

The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that Nabors Corporate Services and its operational successor, C&J Well Services, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting black oilfield workers at their Pleasanton, Texas, yard to a hostile environment that included the pervasive use of racial slurs in the workplace. The lawsuit further alleged that the company’s managers intentionally assigned black employees to lower paying jobs and fired workers in retaliation for reporting racial harassment.

The EEOC alleged that one Nabors worker who was told by the human resources department not to speak negatively about a harasser was later terminated when he reported a racist social media post shared between employees. According to the EEOC, another black employee was called a racial slur at a meeting in front of supervisors and was then fired for reporting his objection.

The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division (EEOC v. Nabors Corporate Services, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 5:16-cv-00758) after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process.

The two-year consent decree resolving the case requires the companies to provide training to their employees informing them of their rights and protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under the consent decree, the companies will revise their policies regarding race discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

Going forward, the companies committed not to employ four individuals who the EEOC identified as having participated in the race harassment.

Two of the class members were represented by the Law Office of Jeffrey A. Goldberg of San Antonio, Texas.

Source: EEOC