Brown & Brown settles EEOC pregnancy discrimination charges

Insurance broker Brown & Brown Inc. has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year, the agency said Wednesday.

The agency sued Daytona Beach, Florida-based Brown & Brown in July 2016, accusing the broker of rescinding an applicant’s job offer after learning she was pregnant.

The broker was charged by the agency with violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

In addition to paying the settlement, the consent decree resolving the case includes the adoption and distribution of a policy on pregnancy discrimination and the training of managers, supervisors and human resources personnel at all Brown & Brown Florida locations, the agency said.

Brown & Brown also agreed to provide annual information to the EEOC over a two-year monitoring period concerning its handling of pregnancy discrimination complaints, the EEOC said in its statement.

Michael Farrell, the EEOC’s Miami district director, said in the statement that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act “requires that pregnant employees be treated the same as non-pregnant employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work. This includes treating pregnant employees the same as others at the hiring stage.”

A Brown & Brown spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.