A former restaurant manager who alleged she was harassed by coworkers shortly after she became pregnant and was not returned to her job after taking FMLA leave was awarded $380,000 by a jury for the restaurant's violations of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the FMLA. (Buffone v. Rosebud Rests., N.D. Ill.)

A Minnesota-based freight delivery company recently agreed to settle a case that alleged that female workers were discriminated against in pay and promotions. (Carlson v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., D. Minn.) The company, which denied any wrongdoing, agreed to pay more than $7.1 million to female employees and $6.9 million for plaintiffs' attorney fees and costs. The plaintiffs alleged that women were paid less than their male counterparts and that men were given preferential treatment in promotions to branch management positions.

On November 17, a federal court jury returned a $2.355 million verdict in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and three saleswomen who experienced sexual harassment and retaliation while employed by The Custom Companies, a Northlake, Ill., trucking company. The verdicts included punitive damages in the amount of $2.05 million and compensatory damages in the amount of $245,000. In addition, one woman was awarded $60,000 to compensate her for her expenses in defending a retaliatory lawsuit filed against her by Custom Companies.

A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's decision that a preemployment "strength test" discriminated against female applicants for jobs at the Dial Corporation's Armour Star sausage-making plant in Fort Madison, Iowa. The decision also affirmed the award of approximately $3.3 million to 52 rejected female job applicants. The case arose from a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of the discrimination victims. EEOC v. Dial Corp. (8th Cir., Nov. 17, 2006).

Employers must use the new EEO-1 report starting with the report due on September 30, 2007. Employers that submit an EEO-1 should begin implementing the changes now-if they have not already begun to do so.

The EEO-1 report must be filed by:

Employers with federal government contracts of $50,00 or more and 50 or more employees, and
Employers who do not have a federal government contract but have 100 or more employees.