Ohio LTL carrier settles sex discrimination lawsuit for $1.25M

An Ohio less-than-truckload carrier is settling a sex discrimination lawsuit over not hiring women as loaders.

Wilmington, Ohio-based R&L Carriers Inc. and its associated companies R&L Carriers and Shared Services LLC have agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to a news release from the agency’s Indianapolis District.

R&L Carriers discriminated against women in hiring for loader positions from at least Jan. 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2017, according to the EEOC. Although some women were hired as loaders, most female applicants were rejected or steered to different positions because of their sex. Applicants and other witnesses stated they were told R&L Carriers did not hire women for loader positions. The alleged discriminatory conduct resulted in a large difference in the percentage of female applicants who were hired compared to male applicants who were hired.

The alleged sex discrimination conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination based on an applicant’s sex. The EEOC stated that it filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement.

The $1.25 million settlement fund will be handled by a claims administrator paid for by R&L Carriers as stipulated in the consent decree, EEOC reported. In the next few months, the EEOC and the claims administrator are expected to make efforts to locate the women to whom the money will be distributed.

The EEOC has set up an information line for additional information on the settlement. The phone number is 317-225-8363.

The decree also orders R&L Carriers not to discriminate against female applicants at its Wilmington facility. It also requires R&L Carriers to train its hiring officials in legal hiring procedures and notify its recruiters and employees not to discriminate against women in hiring for loader positions. R&L Carriers also agreed to invite rejected female applicants to reapply for Wilmington loader positions and will engage in outreach and recruitment efforts related to employing women as loaders.

More information about sex discrimination from the EEOC is available here. LL