Labor Ready Northeast Inc. settled a race and sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency announced. US Magistrate Judge Cynthia Reed Eddy entered a consent decree on Nov. 9 settling the case for $72,500 and injunctive relief.

Labor Ready is a brand of industrial staffing firm TrueBlue Inc. (NYSE: TBI). The EEOC filed the lawsuit in US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Division, on Sept. 25, 2015.

According to the lawsuit, Labor Ready's Washington, Pa., branch sent Crystal Cole and Fetema Johnson to work as laborers at Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration, its customer in Metz, W.V. The EEOC alleges two male employees at the worksite subjected Cole and Johnson to offensive race and sex-biased comments. The harassment claims also included groping one woman’s breasts, and attempting to physically intimidate the two women.

The EEOC alleged that the two women made multiple complaints to Labor Ready about the harassing actions of the customer's employees and the Washington branch manager's inaction regarding those complaints, but Labor Ready retaliated against them by denying them a promised work assignment and firing them for their complaints.

In addition to monetary payment, the consent decree requires that Labor Ready’s procedures and its training for certain personnel concerning harassment complaints must contain specific components. In addition, Labor Ready will be required to make reports to EEOC concerning future harassment complaints, resulting investigations, and remedial actions taken in response to them.

“We strongly disagree with the EEOC’s perspective on this case, as the two individuals involved were terminated for non-discriminatory legitimate reason,” TrueBlue said in a statement provided to Staffing Industry Analysts. “This settlement was a business decision to avoid the high cost of legal fees and the distraction to our business. Additionally, the actions the EEOC is requesting of our Washington office are already in place, including training and auditing to make sure we treat all of our workers fairly and consistent with the law. We investigate complaints against customers or employees, whether it involves safety problems or other issues such as harassment or discrimination. TrueBlue is a strong believer in diversity and inclusion and will continue to be a leader in this area within our industry.”

“Temporary workers are among the most vulnerable workers in our economy, and the staffing industry must recognize that it has a clear, non-delegable duty under Title VII to protect workers placed at customer worksites from harassment and other forms of discrimination,” said EEOC Philadelphia Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence. “The staffing industry owes a duty of care to its workers, not deference to its customers. We are pleased that Labor Ready cooperated with EEOC to settle this matter with decree terms intended to protect Labor Ready’s employees.”