N.J. sheet metal local settles 25-year-old discrimination lawsuit

摘要

A group of sheet metal workers will split almost $1.7 million as part of a racial discrimination lawsuit settlement reached with a New Jersey union and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The commission's decades-old lawsuit alleged that Sheet Metal Workers Local 25 and its apprentice school favored white workers in hiring and HVAC construction assignments over African-American and Hispanic union members from April 1991 through 2002. "EEOC is committed to ensuring equal opportunities throughout the construction trade," said EEOC New York district office district director Kevin Berry. "Through remedial agreements like the one in this case, we can rid this industry of such invidious race discrimination."