A Chicago car dealership will pay $100,000 to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ( EEOC ) lawsuit, after an employee alleged that they were discriminated against for being gay and having a disability.
The agency announced the settlement in an April 26 statement.
EEOC alleged that an employee at Evergreen Kia, 9205 S. Western Ave., was discriminated against both for being gay and having Crohn's Disease, with homophobic slurs and and jokes about his disability eventually reaching a point such that the employee quit.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in October 2017, with Evergreen Kia agreeing to a settlement April 26. EEOC maintained that Evergreen Kia had been in violation of both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disability Act ( ADA ) of 1991.
"We thank Evergreen Kia for its commitment to settle this case before the parties incurred significant costs and for its willingness to modify its policies, provide training to its employees, and to have an outside monitor investigate complaints of discrimination," said EEOC Chicago Regional Attorney Gregory M. Gochanour in the April 26 statement.
EEOC Chicago District Office Director Julianne Bowman added, "The EEOC will continue to enforce the federal laws so that all gay and disabled employees have the same opportunities as everyone else to work in environments free from harassment."