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Briggs Equipment, Inc., a Dallas-based  company and one of North America’s largest industrial and construction  equipment distributors, will pay a former  employee $112,000 and furnish other relief to settle a race discrimination  lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The  EEOC’s lawsuit, Civil Action No. 5:10-CV-00108, in U.S. District Court for the  Southern District of Texas in Laredo,  charged that Briggs subjected Bobby Wysong to unlawful  discrimination when it terminated him from his position as a technician because  of his race, black. The EEOC further  alleged that Briggs subjected Wysong to a racially hostile work environment. Mario Rodriguez, a management official for  Briggs who had direct supervisory authority over Wysong, blatantly referred to  Wysong, among other things, as a “n----r,” “mayate”  (a racial epithet against blacks widely used in South  Texas), “slave” and “dark horse” in conjunction with expressly  stating he wanted Wysong fired. Rodriguez  himself admitted to using the racial slur “n----r” at work and several  witnesses corroborated that he routinely used racist epithets and made racist  jokes at the workplace.

Further, the EEOC said, when Wysong  was wrongfully discharged, he lost his company medical insurance, after which he  incurred substantial medical bills due to orthopedic surgery.

Racial  harassment -- including slurs and offensive or derogatory comments -- as well  as discharge due to race violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit after the EEOC’s San  Antonio Field Office determined that Briggs had violated Title VII and after it  tried to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the Commission’s  conciliation process.

In the consent decree settling the suit, besides the  monetary relief of $112,000, Briggs also  agreed to negotiate and pay Wysong’s medical bills he incurred due to  the loss of his health insurance, which have an approximate value of $273,000. Briggs agreed to comply in the future with Title VII and to provide  training regarding Title VII to current employees assigned to work at the  Briggs facility at Laredo.  Briggs further agreed to modify its  written anti-discrimination policy, which specifically addresses race  discrimination.