Workers Sue AAA Carolina Operations for Gender and Race Discrimination
A lawsuit filed against AAA in the Carolinas shows allegations of employment gender and race discrimination in that company’s road emergency services division.
A Feb. 13 Associated Press report indicates that workers in AAA’s “Carolinas” region have filed suit claiming substantial pay gaps exist between black and white workers. The suit also alleges that some less qualified workers were promoted more quickly than others were. Other reports show complaints of the retaliation that is so often a part of employment discrimination cases. One employee claims that his car was burned after his complaints to human resources. Others claim that they were denied pay as a retaliatory practice by the company.
The attorney for workers involved in the suit says that many of them had applied to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seeking approval in the form of a “right to sue” designation. The U.S. EEOC is in charge of overseeing enforcement of legislation around job discrimination. The EEOC web site includes information on how to file charges as well as guidance on a “timeline” for reporting discrimination on the job.
Cases like these illustrate how evidence of a “pay gap” between classes of workers can lead to job discrimination litigation if workers are able to prove a pattern of unequal pay. This will generally require information about personal wages and pay scales for a specific company.
In the AAA case, a double claim of discrimination of both gender and ethnicity was applied to a specific type of job. The story specifies that the suit pertains to AAA’s “car care and towing services” where discrimination may be more evident based on the unique nature of the employees who go out on the road to assist customers. Other types of job discrimination claims may apply to larger divisions or across an entire business. Other businesses can use the AAA case as an example of workers successfully suing under EEOC guidelines.
Monheit is the managing lawyer at Monheit Law, outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has practiced law since 1989. Michael Monheit was the managing attorney of the law offices of Herbert Monheit — now Silverman and Fodera — a firm founded by... Michael Monheit→
