Dive Brief:
- New Mercer Commons Assisted Living Facility, a part of the northern Colorado-based Columbine Health Systems, violated federal law by discriminating against employees who emigrated from African countries, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed Aug. 5.
- The EEOC alleged that the company fired Ethiopian and Sudanese employees because of a bias against African immigrants, and implemented a new employment exam that disparately affected the continuing employment opportunities of its small, minority African workforce.
- The EEOC further alleged that a white supervisor was fired in retaliation after she refused to participate in discriminatory practices against African employees.
Dive Insight:
It's not the first time the EEOC has gone after an employer who it says used a written test to discriminate against minorities, especially when the test may have nothing to do with the actual job duties.
"Title VII prohibits not only intentional discrimination, but also the use of employment criteria, such as exams, that adversely affect employment opportunities, but are not sufficiently related to the employment position or required by business necessity," said EEOC Phoenix District Office Regional Attorney Mary Jo O'Neill.
O'Neill added that employers should validate employment tests to ensure the test is accurately measuring job-related functions. And employers must be careful when implementing these or other similar evaluative criteria to make sure that they comply with law and do not disparately screen out minority candidates who are perfectly able to perform the actual job duties.
