United Staffing Associates LLC, a Visalia, Calif.-based staffing agency, will pay $24,500 to settle a charge of retaliatory discrimination filed with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced. With the settlement, United Staffing Associates avoided litigation without admitting liability.

The charge filed with the EEOC asserted that an employee had been placed by United Staffing at the same location for seasonal work since 2006 and filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC at the end of the 2014 season. After the employee filed the complaint, she alleged that she was not recalled to work for that location by United Staffing at the start of the next season, nor did the staffing agency place her at any other location. The EEOC investigated the allegations and found reasonable cause to believe that United Staffing was liable for discriminatory retaliation, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Aside from the monetary relief, United Staffing agreed to reinstate the employee and place her on an active assignment list, make reasonable efforts to place her in positions and provide her a neutral reference. The company also agreed to appoint an equal employment opportunity consultant to ensure that the company revises its current policies; provides effective training for all employees on discrimination and retaliation; establishes a centralized tracking system for all discrimination complaints; and reports any new discrimination complaints to the EEOC.

“When a company retaliates against an individual for reporting discrimination, they are chilling other employees from reporting such workplace abuses,” said Melissa Barrios, director of the EEOC's Fresno Local Office. “We commend United Staffing Associates for working with the EEOC to resolve this complaint and to ensure that employees are protected from retaliation there in the future.”