A Texas energy company will pay a $265,000 fine to settle charges that it subjected Black and Hispanic field mechanics to harassment.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced last week that Liberty Energy, Inc. doing business as Liberty Oilfield Services, LLC, will settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of three mechanics.
According to the EEOC lawsuit, a Black field mechanic and two Hispanic co-workers at Liberty Energy’s Odessa, Texas location were subjected to a hostile environment and referred to in derogatory terms, including use of the N-word and other slurs such as “beaner” and “wetback.”
Liberty Energy is an oilfield service firm offering technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration across North America.
The employees alleged that they made reports to supervisors, management, and human resources about the discriminatory treatment, but no effective corrective or remedial action was taken by the company.
The EEOC’s suit charged that after making his report, the Black mechanic was forced by management to perform undesirable work tasks and was isolated by his peers. With no meaningful action by company management to change the workplace atmosphere and the discriminatory assignments that followed his complaint, he was ultimately left no alternative but to resign.
The alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race and national origin. The EEOC filed suit, Civil Action No. 7:23-cv-00100, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Midland-Odessa Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
Under the two-year consent decree resolving the suit, in addition to monetary relief for the employees, Liberty Energy will adopt and distribute a policy for all human resources and management personnel to effectively respond to reports to discrimination; post a notice in the workplace informing employees of the settlement; adopt and develop a 1-800 hotline for reporting acts of discrimination and/or harassment; and provide specialized training to employees on the federal laws that prohibit employment discrimination, including Title VII.
Source: EEOC
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