The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the settlement of an employment discrimination lawsuit under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act against Consolidated Freightways Corporation of Delaware for $2,750,000 on behalf of 12 African American dockworkers who were subjected to a racially hostile work environment at the Kansas City, Missouri, facility.

The Commission alleged in the lawsuit that co-workers subjected the African American employees to racial intimidation which included hanging nooses in the workplace, assaults, threats of physical harm, displaying racially offensive graffiti, damaging property and other harassment. Consolidated, which filed a petition for relief under the Bankruptcy Code on September 3, 2002, and is now in the process of liquidation, was one of the largest freight transportation companies in North America.

In EEOC's suit, filed on May 31, 2002, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division (No. 4:02-CV-00519-DW), the Commission alleged that Consolidated knew about but did nothing to stop the racial harassment, and that it disciplined one of the employees for complaining about the harassment. The litigation was filed by EEOC after the agency investigated charges of discrimination, found merit, and exhausted its conciliation efforts to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement.

The settlement, in the form of a Consent Decree, provides monetary relief to former dockworkers at Consolidated's Kansas City, Mo.-based facility. It calls for Consolidated to pay $2,750,000 to the former employees and their private attorneys. The amount of the actual recovery will be determined by the Bankruptcy Court based on the company's remaining assets.

Consolidated denies the EEOC's allegations of race discrimination and asserts that it is entering into the Consent Decree because it believes that it is in the best interests of its bankruptcy estate and its creditors.