J.C. Penney to Pay $50th in Race Discrimination Suit in NY District Court

Holding:

J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc. has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) on behalf of Reinell Singh, an African American. The EEOC's lawsuit alleged that Singh's supervisor referred to her several times using racially offensive names and subsequently fired her for racial reasons. In addition to the $50,000 in compensatory damages to be paid to Singh, the three-year consent decree includes injunctive relief enjoining J.C. Penney from race discrimination or retaliation; requiring the adoption of a non-discrimination policy and complaint procedures; anti-discrimination training; posting of a notice about the EEOC and the lawsuit; a memorandum setting forth the requirements of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to all store employees; monitoring and reporting.

Detailed Summary:

The complaint alleged that in or around December 2004 and continuing until her termination in 2005, Singh was subjected to repeated racial harassment by her supervisor. Among the statements that Singh heard were, “Don’t speak to me, nigger” and “we will get rid of all the niggers and begin with that one.”

The complaint also alleged that in or around March 2005 and continuing until her termination in April 2005, the company gave Singh accumulated disciplinary notices dated from December 2004.  J.C. Penney took these actions allegedly as pretext for the purpose of building a record by which to justify the…

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