EEOC v. Alltel Telecom Information Services, Inc.

No. 3:04-CV-722 (E.D. Va. April 18, 2005)

The Baltimore District Office filed this Title VII suit alleging that defendant, a network telecommunications business serving customers in 26 states, discharged charging party (a senior network technician and the only black employee in Alltel's 11-employee Richmond, Virginia facility) in retaliation for complaining about racial discrimination. In November 2003, charging party and defendant entered into a mediation agreement resolving an earlier race discrimination charge. The mediation agreement required charging party's (white) supervisor to interact with him directly and required defendant to provide charging party with training. In January 2004, charging party complained to the Human Resources Department that defendant was not complying with these terms and was continuing to discriminate. A month later, defendant laid him off in a reduction-in-force. Charging party's supervisor selected him for the layoff. Although charging party performed at least as well as other technicians and was more senior than most of them, he was the only employee laid off. Under the 2-year consent decree resolving this case, charging party will receive $137,000 in monetary relief. The decree requires that defendant comply with Title VII's retaliation provisions, and specifically enjoins defendant's Virginia-based managers and employees in the Engineering Network Operations Group from engaging in retaliation in violation of Title VII.

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