The owner of 10 Wyoming-based energy and agriculture companies has been sued by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for paying female employees lower wages than men who were doing the same work under similar conditions.
According to the lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Wyoming, True Oil of Casper, Wyo. and its associated companies violated the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits discrimination in compensation on the basis of sex. The EEOC said it attempted to reach a settlement with the company through a conciliation process but was unable to come to an agreement.
“Enforcing the Equal Pay Act and closing the pay gap is a priority for the EEOC,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, EEOC Phoenix District Office regional manager, in a statement. “By enforcing the EPA, the EEOC ensure that women will be paid an equal and fair wage. Unfortunately Wyoming has the largest pay disparity between men and women in the country, according to a 2014 report by the American Association of University Women.”
Equal pay laws and targeting compensation systems and practices that discriminate is one of six national priorities by the EEOC’s strategic Enforcement Plan, the committee said.
Owned by the True family since 1948, True Oil companies have been federal contractors. The lawsuits said, “As a result of their long history as employers and their experience as federal contractors with attendant committees to comply with federal law, [True Oil] could not have failed to comply with the requirement of the EPA without knowledge.” Therefore, alleges the EEOC, the company violated the law willfully.
The lawsuit outlines several examples, comparing pay for women employed as accounting clerks to men hired to do the same work. In each example, the women were paid considerable less than male counterparts even though each woman arguably had better qualifications, education and experience.
True Oil violated the law since at least May 2010, alleged the EEOC.
The EEOC seeks an injunction against True Oil from engaging in wage discrimination, carry out policies which provide equal employment opportunities for women, and pay appropriate back wages, with interest, in amounts to be determined at trial.
According to True Oil’s website, H.A. “Dave” True Jr, the company founder, is quoted: “A good deal is a deal that is good for everyone involved.”
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In other news from the EEOC over the last week, restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC.
A Ruby Tuesday location in Park City, Utah denied employment to two male employees during the summer 2013. The restaurant had posted an internal announcement for temporary position in nine states. The positions including housing and the chance to make more money but it said only females would be considered allegedly because of concerns about housing.
This, said the EEOC, was a violation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Ruby Tuesday, with more than 800 restaurants in the US and in 15 foreign countries and with reported revenue of more than $1.25 billion in 2013, will now pay the two male employees $100,000 and take step to avoid future discrimination, providing training to managers and employees. The restaurant is ordered to report training efforts to the EEOC and “post reminders of the resolution on its website and at its restaurants,” the EEOC said in a May 21 statement.
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The owners of a restaurant in Arkansas agreed to pay $15,000 to put an end to a racial harassment lawsuit filed by the EEOC.
A senior vice president of operations and a region manager of H2H Enterprises, owner of Huddle House #670 in Pine Bluff, are alleged to have “subjected a black employee to offensive and unwelcome racially derogatory name-calling when they would each visit the restaurant,” said the EEOC in a May 21 statement. When the employee complained H2H did nothing, alleged the EEOC.
A two-year consent decree in addition to the $15,000 settlement enjoins the company from either subjecting employees to this type of abuse or retaliating against any employee who reports allegations of racial harassment.
“Employers can never ignore such behavior, especially when an employee has brought such behavior to the employer’s attention,” said Faye A. Williams, regional manager for the EEOC’s Memphis District Office, in a statement.
Chad Hemenway is Managing Editor of Advisen News. He has more than 15 years of journalist experience at a variety of online, daily, and weekly publications. He has covered P&C insurance news since 2007, and he has experience writing about all P&C lines as well as regulation and litigation. Chad won a Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Single Article in 2014 for his coverage of the insurance implications of traumatic brain injuries and Best News Coverage in 2013 for coverage of Superstorm Sandy. Contact Chad at 212.897.4824 or [email protected].
