Employer Racially Harassed Black Employee and Retaliated Against Him for Complaining, Federal Agency Charged

CHEYENNE, Wyo.– Skils’kin, a non-profit focused on disabilities and employment that operates in Washington, Montana, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, will pay $100,000 and provide other relief to settle a race discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC, the only Black employee on the Skils’kin grounds crew working at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming was called various racial slurs by other Skils’kin employees. When the employee complained about the racially offensive statements, Skils’kin assigned him to work directly with the coworker and supervisor who were harassing him. Skils’kin continued to ignore the employee’s complaints and then fired him, despite his multiple years of service, while retaining a white employee hired only three months earlier.

Such alleged behavior violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees from race discrimination, including race harassment and retaliation in the workplace. The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Skils’kin, Civil Action No. 2:21-CV-185-NDF).

The consent decree settling the suit requires Skils’kin to review and update its race discrimination and non-retaliation policies, as well as post an anti-discrimination...

Read Full Story: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/skilskin-pay-100000-settle-eeoc-race-discrimina...