Agency Charged Black Female Employees Were Segregated in Job Assignments

CHICAGO - Jackson Park  Hospital and Medical  Center, located on Chicago's South Side, will pay $80,000 to  settle a class race, sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the  U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

In its  lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Jackson  Park Hospital  subjected a class of black female employees to segregation in job assignments  because of their race. The suit also  alleged that at least one of the women was demoted in retaliation for opposing  and complaining about unlawful employment practices. The lawsuit was assigned to Judge Milton  Shadur of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and  captioned EEOC v. Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center, 11 C 4743.

In addition  to requiring that Jackson Park pay monetary relief to 11 victims, the two-year  consent decree resolving the case enjoins Jackson Park from engaging in further  race and/or sex discrimination or retaliation.  The consent decree also requires that Jackson Park provide training to  all employees, including supervisory employees, in its Cardiopulmonary  Department; that Jackson Park submit periodic reports to EEOC about any  complaints of sex and/or race discrimination or retaliation; and that Jackson  Part post a notice at various locations within its facility regarding the  outcome of this lawsuit.

"We  think that this is a good outcome for everyone involved," said EEOC Trial  Attorney June Wallace Calhoun. "We  are especially glad that Jackson Park was very cooperative in resolving this  matter quickly without need of costly litigation."

The EEOC's  Chicago District Office is responsible for processing discrimination charges,  administrative enforcement, and the conduct of agency litigation in Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota,  with Area Offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

The  EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment. Further information about the Commission is  available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.