Gender discrimination case settles for $300,000
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A bottled water company will pay $300,000 for allegedly failing to promote a 20-year veteran and then selecting her as the only one of 14 Florida zone managers and zone manager supervisors to lose her job in a consolidation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Monday.
The EEOC said Stamford, Connecticut-based Nestlé Waters North America Inc. failed to select Dawn Bowers-Ferrara, a 20-year Nestlé veteran finance and budgeting manager, to the position of Florida zone business manager because of her gender.
Instead, Nestlé selected a male employee for the newly created position, even though he failed to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and then terminated Ms. Bowers-Ferrara in a consolidation, the EEOC said.
The company was charged with sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1064.
In addition to paying the $300,000, the company agreed to provide Ms. Bowers-Ferrara with 12 months of outplacement services, among other measures.
EEOC Miami District Office Regional Attorney Robert Weisberg said in a statement: “Employment decisions should be based on true qualifications, not stereotypical ideas of a candidate’s qualifications. EEOC hopes that this resolution will result in Nestlé examining its subjective internal promotion decision-making process to ensure that it does not have an adverse impact on women seeking advancement into management positions.”
A company spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
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