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EEOC sues North Texas companies for violating sexual harassment and disability laws

The Dallas district office announced suits this week against Charles W. Smith Funeral Homes, Stevens Transport and 151 Coffee.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued three North Texas companies this week for allegedly violating federal harassment and discrimination laws.

Charles W. Smith Funeral Homes Inc., which operates several funeral homes in the Dallas area, was sued by the EEOC for reportedly sexually harassing three female workers and retaliating against them for reporting the incidents. The lawsuit accuses funeral home owner and director Charles Smith of subjecting the employees to sexual comments and propositions at the company’s Sachse mortuary.

“This case represents a disturbing example of a serial sexual harasser repeatedly preying on female employees and expecting to get away with it due to his ownership of the business,” said Joel Clark, a senior trial attorney in the EEOC’s Dallas district office.

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Smith could not be reached for comment.

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The alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes discrimination on the basis of sex illegal.

According to the EEOC, two funeral home employees were forced to resign after reporting the harassment and a third employee was removed from the work schedule. The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and an order barring the company from engaging in similar future behavior.

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A Dallas-based refrigerated transport company was also sued by the EEOC for reportedly discriminating against a job applicant after learning he had taken medical leave at a previous job. The EEOC accused Stevens Transport of not hiring an applicant because of his disability — hypertension.

The suit alleges the applicant was asked whether a gap in his employment was related to a medical issue, leading him to disclose his diagnosis. The EEOC said that led to him not being hired, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Employers may not make any disability-related inquiries before a job offer has been made,” EEOC Dallas district office senior trial attorney Meaghan Kuelbs said. “And, should such information be elicited during the application process, the ADA expressly prohibits the exclusion of a candidate for hire simply because of his status as a person with a disability.”

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The EEOC also is seeking damages for the applicant and an order barring Stevens Transport from future discriminatory treatment.

Stevens Transport also could not be reached for comment.

In Fort Worth, 151 Coffee LLC was also sued for allegedly violating the ADA by denying reasonable accommodation to allow two baristas to keep working despite disabilities that made them vulnerable to serious complications if they contracted COVID-19.

According to the complaint, the employees were not allowed to return to work until a COVID-19 vaccine was developed, even though they were willing to work.

“Employees cannot be refused the opportunity to work just because their employer believes it is protecting them from illness,” Kuelbs said. “Absent a direct threat to the safety of themselves or others, employers cannot deny employment opportunities based on disability.”

The EEOC is the office in charge of enforcing federal discrimination laws against employees or job applicants based on their race, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability. Most employers with 15 or more employees are covered by these laws, as well as most labor unions and employment agencies.

Following amendments made to the state discrimination law earlier this month, however, Texas companies of any size are now covered by sexual harassment statutes in state court.

Texas companies saw nearly 7,000 EEOC charges last year, making up about 10% of the total filed in the U.S. Retaliation charges made up the highest percentage of cases in the state at 42.8%.

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Outside of the state, Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway was also sued for allegedly subjecting female workers as a Nebraska railyard to a “sexually hostile workplace” through sexual comments, suggestive photos of women, and sexual and derogatory slurs. The EEOC’s St. Louis district filed that lawsuit.