The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a discrimination lawsuit against Staffing Solutions of WNY Inc, a Buffalo, NY-based staffing provider. However, the firm in a statement denied the EEOC’s charges.

The EEOC contends Staffing Solutions, which places employees with clients throughout Western New York, either refused to hire highly qualified black applicants or placed them in the lowest paying, least desirable jobs. Further, EEOC alleges that Staffing Solutions’ owner, Kathleen Faulhaber, instructed her staff to comply with clients’ race and sex preferences, placed employees in positions based on race and sex, and rejected pregnant applicants. Additionally, the complaint alleges that applicants over the age of 50, applicants with disabilities, and those whom the company deemed disabled were routinely rejected by Staffing Solutions.

The EEOC also charges that an office manager for Staffing Solutions complained about the illegal hiring practices and voiced objections to Faulhaber’s repeated use of racial slurs, but was warned that she would be fired if she failed to comply. The office manager felt she had no choice but to resign, according to the complaint.

The EEOC filed the lawsuit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

In a statement provided to Staffing Industry Analysts, Staffing Solutions founder and owner Kathleen Faulhaber said the allegations are meritless but the filing came as no surprise. 

“It was clear in our dealings with the EEOC over the last year that their ultimate intent was litigation,” Faulhaber said in the statement. “What is shocking and disturbing is that our former Staffing Solutions employee, Tammy Iser, filed such a claim and the substance of her complaint. She alleges that I used racial epithets toward African American applicants, rejected older and pregnant job applicants and followed the race and sex preferences of clients. If what Ms. Iser alleges is true, then why would I have hired and promoted her — an older woman with a criminal record? The fact of the matter is, it was only after Ms. Iser abruptly quit her employment with my company, providing no notice and no good reason, that she made the multiple allegations cited in this claim. Additionally, I have discovered that Ms. Iser and the EEOC have partnered in the past on a case similar to this, against a different employer, for which I believe she was paid handsomely. I feel totally set up in this circumstance as Ms. Iser, in her role as our office manager, would have had the power and access to do all of the things listed in the EEOC Complaint, such as documenting and destroying files.”

The company also reported comments by its client, Trey Way:

“Staffing Solutions is a great Temp Agency. I did a walk-in sign up with no appointment and had a job that same day working a 12-hour full time temp-to-permanent job with optional over time,” Way said in a statement. “It’s not a racist place. I’m a black guy with tattoos and the staffing guy was cool and helpful. I would recommend it to anyone.”

Attorney Ginger Schroder, founding partner in Schroder Joseph and Associates, is representing Staffing Solutions and Faulhaber in the EEOC lawsuit. Schroder said she sees the case as a growing example of government abuse.

“The allegations in this lawsuit are outrageous as well as complete and utter lies,” Schroder said. “I am shocked that a government agency could manufacture such allegations out of thin air and actually file them in court and I look forward to presenting evidence that will prove the reputation of my client as an upstanding business owner and community leader, as opposed to the accuser who is a documented criminal.”

The case, EEOC v. Staffing Solutions of WNY, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-00562, was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of New York. The EEOC seeks back pay; compensatory, liquidated, and punitive damages; and injunctive relief.