Two Companies Agree to Pay $250K to Settle Race Discrimination and Harassment Lawsuit

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged that two Mississippi companies were simultaneously imposing a hostile work environment on their black employees. The two companies will pay $250,000 to settle the lawsuit presented by the commission.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, the rail services and disaster response companies were Prewett Enterprises, Inc., a family-owned business that was also going by B&P Enterprises, and Desoto Marine, LLC. 

The lawsuit also details that supervisors and managers at both companies harassed and humiliated African-American employees on a daily basis, calling these employees racially offensive and derogatory names, and assigned more dangerous job responsibilities to them.

The companies miust also provide additional relief as part of the settlement for the next two years, including revisions to their anti-racial harassment policies; creating a hotline phone number where complaints about discrimination, harassment, and retaliation can be reported; and incorporate the use of exit interviews for employees that leave the companies. The companies must also provide training for employees about reporting incidents of race harassment to the EEOC.

(EEOC v. Prewett Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a B&P Enterprises, and Desoto Marine,LLC, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, No. 3:18-cv-213, 2020)