JBS WORKERS GET $5.5M SETTLEMENT
JBS will pay up to $5.5 million to settle an EEOC lawsuit involving workers at its Greeley meat processing plant.
JBS Greeley will pay up to $5.5 million for past employee discrimination.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against the food processing company in 2010. The EEOC claimed that JBS discriminated against Black people, Muslims and immigrants from Somalia.
The alleged discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, a federal law that forbids discrimination in the workplace.
“The EEOC is proud to obtain such significant relief for the hundreds of workers harmed by the unlawful employment practices alleged in this lawsuit,” said EEOC chief Charlotte A. Burrows in a news release. “This case serves as a reminder that systemic discrimination and harassment remain significant problems that we as a society must tackle.”
Muslim employees were not allowed time to pray and were harassed when they attempted to pray during their designated break time, according to a news release. During the 2008 Ramadan, the company prohibited employees from drinking water and washing before their prayers by turning off water fountains, according to EEOC allegations.
Additionally, Somali Muslim employees were not allowed bathroom breaks and were “disciplined … more harshly than other employees,” according to the news release. These employees were frequently called offensive names and targeted through bathroom graffiti.
The EEOC also claimed that company managers and other employees “threw meat or bones at Black and Somali employees.”
In addition to the monetary settlement, JBS will give former employees covered by a decree the opportunity to be rehired, make changes to its anti-discrim
ination policies, create a 24hour hotline for discrimination reports, support a diversity committee, look into employee complaints and hold all-employee yearly trainings on the laws surrounding anti-discrimination.
Also Wednesday, The Washington Post that JBS paid an $11 million ransom after hackers shut down its plants in the U.S. and Australia.
The meat supplier confirmed Wednesday it paid the equivalent of $11 million to hackers who targeted and temporarily crippled its business. JBS was the victim of a ransomware attack last week that temporarily halted operations at its nine beef processing plants in the United States and caused disruptions at other facilities.