Employer settles EEOC charges brought by Filipino worker

A North Dakota oilfield service company has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges that it discriminated and retaliated against a Filipino worker.

The EEOC said Tuesday that Matthew Clark, a Filipino-American who worked as a laborer for Williston, North Dakota-based American Casing & Equipment Inc. from November 2012 to January 2014, was harassed by a white manager who directed racial epithets against him, among other activity.

The EEOC said a supervisor who witnessed the activity took no action against it, and Mr. Clark was fired in retaliation after he complained to the company’s safety manager about the harassment.

The EEOC charged the company with violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In addition to paying the $250,000, American Casing will train its managers, supervisor and employees on the federal law prohibiting race and national origin discrimination and retaliation as part of a two-year decree, the EEOC said.

“This settlement sends a strong message to employers that race and national origin harassment and retaliation will not be tolerated in the workplace,” John Hendrickson, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Chicago District, said in the statement. “EEOC hopes that the changes implemented under the consent decree will serve as a model for creating a workplace free of discrimination in the oilfield service industry.”

The company’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.