Telemarketing services provider DialAmerica Marketing, LLC has agreed to pay $85,000 to settle a race, sex, and retaliation lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced this week.
🧾 The details: The suit stems from allegations that a manager at DialAmerica’s now-closed Middleburg Heights, Ohio location falsely accused a Black female employee of using profanity during a customer call to justify her termination. The EEOC claims the true motive behind the firing was the employee’s race and sex.
After the employee reported the alleged discrimination to a senior vice president in human resources, the company retaliated by terminating her, according to the complaint. The EEOC filed its complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in August 2024.
📜 The settlement: The two-year consent decree, approved June 24, includes both monetary and non-monetary relief:
- The company will make an $85,000 payment to the former employee.
- It agreed to prohibitions against race and sex-based discrimination in discharge decisions and in the use of call reviews or performance evaluations.
- It will engage in policy reforms requiring the documentation of all discrimination or harassment reports by designated HR personnel.
- It will conduct mandatory training for HR staff on how to investigate and respond to discrimination complaints.
💬 What they’re saying: “The EEOC will not shrink from its duty to eradicate unlawful racial discrimination in the American workplace,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence.
“Employers cannot uncritically rely on supervisors’ reporting of events — especially when those supervisors themselves are alleged to have engaged in discrimination,” added Acting EEOC Cleveland Field Office Director Karen McDonough.
