JBS agrees to $5.5M settlement in discrimination suit

DENVER and GREELEY – JBS USA  Inc. today agreed to pay $5.5 million and provide other relief to settle a discrimination lawsuit that began in 2010.

The case was originally filed against JBS USA LLC, which at the time was doing business as JBS Swift & Co. The company has since changed its name. 

The  U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the case, charging race, national origin, and religious discrimination at the company’s beef-processing plant in Greeley. The EEOC’s suit alleged that JBS discriminated against employees because they were Muslim, immigrants from Somalia, and Black. According to the EEOC, JBS denied religious accommodations to Muslim employees at its Greeley plant. Specifically, the EEOC asserted that JBS denied Muslim employees the ability to pray as required by their religion, and that Muslim employees were harassed when they tried to pray during scheduled breaks or even on bathroom breaks.

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The EEOC further charged that during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2008, JBS shut off water fountains at the facility or tagged them to stop employees from using them, which prevented Muslim employees from getting a drink of water after fasting all day and from washing before prayers. JBS also denied Somali Muslim employees bathroom breaks and disciplined them more harshly than other employees, according to the EEOC’s allegations.

In addition, the EEOC alleged that JBS managers and other employees threw meat or bones at Black and Somali employees and that JBS employees regularly called Somali employees offensive names because of their race, national origin and religion. 

The alleged discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal law that prohibits workplace discrimination, including on the basis of race, national origin, or religion.

In a statement, JBS said it agreed to the consent decree but did not admit liability. This “resolves an issue that arose in 2008. JBS USA is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind,” the company said.

Under the terms of the consent decree, JBS will pay up to $5.5 million to about 300 employees and take actions such as training, forming a diversity committee, posting anti-discrimination policies, and maintaining a discrimination hotline to prevent further discrimination. JBS agreed to make all former employees covered under the decree eligible for rehire. 

JBS also is required under the decree to provide clean, quiet, and appropriate locations other than bathrooms for employees’ religious observances, including daily prayers, and must also allow employees to use locker rooms or other locations that do not pose a safety risk for observation of their religious practices.

“The EEOC is proud to obtain such significant relief for the hundreds of workers harmed by the unlawful employment practices alleged in this law­suit,” EEOC chair Charlotte A. Burrows said in a written statement. “This case serves as a reminder that systemic discrimination and harassment remain significant problems that we as a society must tackle. I am hopeful that the employer’s new policies, especially those pro­viding for swift handling of harassment complaints and ensuring appropriate times and places for employees to practice their faith, are a step in the right direction.”

The case was brought in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, where Chief Judge Philip Brimmer will retain authority to enforce the terms of the decree.