Airline fueling firm to pay $1.9 million in bias suit

Jet, March 31, 2008 by Marti Parham

Allied Aviation Services Inc. recently agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle a discrimination suit that charged racial harassment of African-American and Hispanic workers at its Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport facility, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

In a released statement, the EEOC charged that 15 minority employees were subjected to a hostile work environment consisting of racial graffiti, cartoons, slurs and other abuse created by their co-workers on a daily basis.

"It is appalling that racial harassment remains a persistent problem at some job sites across the country in the 21st Century, more than 40 years after the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act," said EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp. "Employers must be more vigilant and make clear that race discrimination, whether verbal or behavioral, has no place in the contemporary workplace."

In addition to the $1.9 million, New York-based Allied Aviation, which provides fueling services to airlines, also will provide sensitivity and diversity training for its employees and file regular reports to the EEOC.

The Dallas Business Journal reported that in a statement Allied Aviation said: "While the company does not agree with the events surrounding this suit as they have been characterized by the EEOC and the plaintiffs' counsel, and does not concede any liability, it felt the interests of all involved could best be served by a mutually agreed resolution of the case so that all parties could move forward and put this matter to rest."