Lawsuit against Oregon Electric Construction settled

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Mar 24, 2005 by Cody McCullough

The Seattle office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently announced that it has settled a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against Portland-based Oregon Electric Construction Inc., a large electrical contractor that was doing business as Washington Electric Group in Washington State.

The settlement was made for $60,000 and the company's agreement to prevent further discrimination. The EEOC had charged the company with forcing out two employees from its now-closed Seattle facility because of their pregnancies.

Depriving women of their jobs because of pregnancy results in an especially difficult hardship due to the sudden loss of employment while faced with the certainty of significant medical and child care expenses, said EEOC Regional Attorney A. Luis Lucero, Jr. We are committed to fighting discrimination in all its forms and in every jurisdiction.

The EEOC alleged in its suit that Oregon Electric fired Laura Lindberg and forced Jennifer Wilkerson to quit because of their pregnancies. Pregnancy discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. Oregon Electric denied the allegations.

Oregon Electric agreed to the consent decree resolving the lawsuit in which it agreed to pay the previous amount to resolve the monetary claims of Lindberg and Wilkerson. As part of the settlement, Oregon Electric also reaffirmed its commitment to the laws prohibiting employment discrimination; agreed to train managers and employees in its corporate headquarters on employment discrimination; and will notify EEOC if the company opens an office in Washington State within the next five years.

We are pleased that the company has agreed to resolve this lawsuit through an equitable settlement of the disputed issues in the case, said EEOC Seattle District Director Jeanette Leino. This settlement should help make Oregon Electric a more responsible employer in the future.