The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a $3.25 million settlement with Aerotek on Friday, but the company denies the allegations. In separate, unrelated announcements, the EEOC recently reported that it reached settlements with two other staffing firms and filed lawsuits against two others. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice announced a settlement in a bias case involving another staffing firm.

Settlement over allegations of assigning of work at client companies. Aerotek agreed to pay $3.25 million to resolve claims it violated federal anti-discrimination laws in the assigning of work at client companies, the EEOC reported. It claimed Aerotek failed to recruit and denied assignments to workers based on age (over 40), gender and race. Aerotek denied it engaged in such practices.

“Aerotek has been and continues to be committed to being an industry leader when it comes to EEO issues,” Aerotek VP and General Counsel Dana Baughns said. “Aerotek was proactive to create and put in place concrete steps to prevent discrimination before the investigations drew to a close. Aerotek is pleased to partner with the EEOC and work together to achieve our mutual goal of non-discriminatory hiring and placement.”

The incidents reported by the EEOC allegedly took place between Oct. 1, 2012, and March 14, 2014, and allegedly involved a class of older individuals in Illinois who worked as contract workers. These workers will receive half the $3.25 million while the other half will be donated to organizations that assist underserved communities in acquiring jobs and skills.

Alleged incidents in this case were found during investigations over several years, said Julianne Bowman, EEOC Chicago district director.

“Honoring discriminatory client placement requests is a pervasive problem in the staffing industry, the EEOC and the Chicago District in particular, has been trying to combat for some time,” Bowman said. “This agreement with a national player shows how staffing companies that have a serious commitment to EEO can take affirmative steps to prevent this from happening.”

Bowman continued: “Other staffing agencies should take heed, and companies need to know they cannot pass off discriminatory hiring decisions to staffing agencies.”

Settlement over allegations involving a pregnant applicant. Labor Source LLC, which does business as Wise Staffing, will pay $40,000 and provide other relief to settle a lawsuit brought by the EEOC. The suit had claimed the Tupelo, Mississippi-based company did not hire a qualified pregnant applicant for one of its clients.

The EEOC said the worker was interviewed around May 2019 for a data extraction clerk position at a client company and told Labor Source that she was pregnant. The staffing firm later decided to hire other applicants, but the EEOC claims that Labor Source hired less-qualified, non-pregnant individuals instead.

Under the settlement, Labor Source will pay $40,000 in back pay and compensatory damages and provide anti-discrimination training to its own workers. It will also administer an exam after the training to all individuals involved in making hiring decisions and require a 90% or better pass rate. Reports on the pass and failure scores will be provided to the EEOC.

Allegations of preference for non-US citizens. The US Department of Justice announced a settlement with Ameritech Global Inc., an IT staffing firm based in Illinois, whereby the company will pay $10,000 in civil penalties and revise its policies and procedures. The department reported Ameritech posted at least three job advertisements announcing its preference to fill positions with non-US citizens from at least Aug. 1, 2019, to June 17, 2021.

“Employers who discourage and refuse to hire eligible job applicants based on their citizenship or immigration status must be held accountable,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Suit filed over claim of bias over disability. The EEOC claims that TrueBlue Inc.’s (NYSE: TBI) office in Manassas, Virginia, discriminated against a worker because of her disability, and filed a lawsuit. TrueBlue denies the claims.

The worker was a marketing coordinator and needed to take leave due to a psychiatric disability, according to the EEOC. The company allegedly denied the request and terminated her when she was medically cleared to return to work after a hospitalization. The EEOC further alleges that workplace comments were made describing the employee as a “problem child” and stating that she was going to the “loony bin” in reference to her need for in-patient care.

TrueBlue rejected the claims in a statement.

“TrueBlue’s mission is to connect people and work, and we work hard to ensure that workplaces remain free from discrimination and that all of our employees and associates are treated with equality and respect,” the company said in a statement.

“TrueBlue has not engaged in any unlawful conduct in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act,” the company said. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination and are committed to the fair treatment of our employees and conducting business ethically. We look forward to providing a complete picture of the plaintiff’s employment in support of our position.”

Lawsuit filed over allegations of harassment. Sunshine Raisin Corp., which does business as National Raisin, and Real Time Staffing Services LLC, which does business as Select Staffing, broke the law by not preventing and correcting sexual harassment against female employees, according to the EEOC. The agency filed a lawsuit against the companies.

The EEOC reported that a supervisor at Sunshine Raisin’s Fowler, California, production facility subjected female employees to verbal and physical sexual harassment. The harassment included frequent unwanted groping and touching, sexually explicit conversations, requests for sexual favors and threats of retaliation, according to the EEOC. It alleged the companies failed to respond to multiple complaints of harassment made against Sunshine Raisin’s employees and that workers who reported misconduct were disciplined, terminated or felt they had no choice but to quit.

Lawsuit filed over allegations of bias involving applicant with one hand. The EEOC sued Elwood Staffing Services claiming a Utah office discriminated against an applicant with only one hand. The applicant had received an offer to work as a product assembler at a client, but the staffing firm did not administer one of two pre-placement tests because the applicant does not have a left hand. The EEOC also claims Elwood did not provide reasonable accommodation to her before it chose not to hire her.

Elwood Staffing denied the allegations.

“Elwood Staffing vigorously contests and will defend these allegations which are wholly contrary to the spirit and practice of how Elwood Staffing partners and champions its Associate workforce,” the company said in a statement. “Elwood Staffing denies it unlawfully failed to hire Ms. Cordero because of a disability who allegedly needed a reasonable accommodation to meet a client’s hiring requirement and maintains that Ms. Cordero has remained an employee of Elwood Staffing at all times.”

The company also noted the EEOC sat dormant on the allegations for nearly four years and the press release inaccurately characterizes what took place.

“Elwood Staffing provides reasonable accommodation to all qualified applicants who either request a reasonable accommodation or have an apparent need for one including providing a change in the work environment or to standard processes which allow a qualified individual with a disability to apply for a job, perform the essential job functions, or to enjoy equal access to benefits available to other individuals in the workplace,” it said in a statement.

The company also said it’s a dedicated equal opportunity employer and does not tolerate any form of unlawful discrimination or retaliation while working to remove any discriminatory barriers that come to its attention.

“Elwood Staffing, consistent with its employee handbook which was distributed to Ms. Cordero at the time of her hire, offers equal employment opportunities to all applicants and associates without regard to age, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, veteran status or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law,” the company said in a statement. “This policy governs all areas of employment at Elwood Staffing including recruiting, hiring, training, assignments, promotions, compensations, benefits, discipline and terminations.”