Companies are mandated by law to hire without discrimination to religion, gender, sex, race or sexual orientation. If a company fails to adhere to the Equal Opportunities Act, it may open itself to lawsuits and may have to rely on employment practices insurance to cover its legal costs.
In East St. Louis, Illinois, representatives of a minority group are filing a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Transportation for allegedly failing to implement fair hiring practices, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
According to the complaint, IDOT didn’t offer minority workers a substantial amount of opportunities involved with regional projects, including the $667 million bridge development.
Although IDOT may claim at certain points during the year its workforce consists of 30 percent minorities, the plaintiffs say a majority of that percentage represents temporary employees and urged the organization give minorities more full-time opportunities.
“The time has come for the law to intervene and to impose a remedy for this long-term discrimination,” Eric Vickers, attorney for the minority group, said in a statement, the paper reports.
