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A Statesville grocery store has agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that alleged the store fired a worker because he was not Hispanic.
The EEOC sued West Front Street Foods LLC, which does business as Compare Foods, in federal court in September, saying the store fired Robert Bruce, a white, non-Hispanic meat cutter, based on his race and national origin. The supermarket then replaced the worker with a less-qualified Hispanic employee, the lawsuit said.
A manager at the store could not be reached for comment. The store's lawyer, Bryan Adams of Charlotte, said Compare Foods did not admit to any liability by settling. There were no findings of fact, and the store agreed to settle for “purely economic reasons,” he said. “It's just a lot more cost-effective” to settle outside of court.
The lawsuit came just months after a Compare Foods in Charlotte agreed to pay $40,000 to settle a similar case. The stores are independently owned.
In the first suit, the EEOC said the store fired or forced out three longtime employees – two black and one white – and replaced them with Hispanic workers. Adams, who also represented the Charlotte store, said at the time that one of the employees voluntarily quit, while the others were fired for insubordination and complaints from customers about being rude – not because of their race.
The cases highlighted a growing concern, EEOC officials said then, that employers were increasingly choosing Hispanic workers over others to cut costs or to cater to Spanish-speaking workers.
Race-related discrimination cases have been on the rise in recent months, partly because workplaces are becoming more diverse. The recession has also led to more layoffs and, as a result, more EEOC complaints.
Compare Foods, which caters to Hispanic customers, opened its first store in 1989 in Freeport, N.Y. There are now more than 50 stores in seven states.
In addition to its $30,000 payment, the Statesville Compare Foods has agreed to distribute a formal, written anti-discrimination policy; train all employees on the policy and the law that prohibits discrimination by race and national origin; send reports to the EEOC on employees who are fired or resign; and post a notice to employees about the lawsuit.
