Federal Agency Seeks Workers Impacted by Staffing Agency’s Refusal to Place Females Due to Client Preferences

SEATTLE — Gig Harbor, Washington-based staffing agency SmartTalent violated federal law by repeatedly refusing to assign female workers to certain temporary jobs, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed in federal court.

The agency is now seeking workers with information or experiences with SmartTalent’s application and assignment practices.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, SmartTalent honored requests made by some business clients to fill positions with male workers only. The EEOC charges that managers instructed recruiters to comply with these gender-based requests to keep their clients happy and that SmartTalent explicitly told female workers that certain jobs were not available to them or would not be a good placement due to their gender. For example, recruiters informed women that labor-intensive jobs would be too hard, that warehouse jobs were mainly for men, and that women didn’t belong there.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids using gender-based criteria in employment. After first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through conciliation, the EEOC filed its lawsuit (EEOC v. SmartTalent, LLC, Case No. 2:22-CV-01102-RSM) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. On behalf of the women workers, the agency seeks lost wages, monetary...

Read Full Story: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/smarttalent-sued-eeoc-sex-discrimination