Nashville Home Health Care Company Fired Administrator Because of Race, Federal Agency Charges
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Nashville-based home health care provider discharged a black administrator because of his race in violation of federal law, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today. The EEOC also charged that the company failed to file EEO-1 reports on its workforce as required by federal law.
According to the EEOC's suit, Careall, Inc., and VIP Home Nursing & Rehabilitation Services, LLC, hired the administrator in 2012 to supervise several of the company's directors of patient services. Some time after the owner of the company learned that the administrator was black, however, the owner made a number of racial comments about him and expressed a desire to end his employment. The administrator was then told he would be discharged in early 2013.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Careall, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:14-cv-01927) in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division, after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking injunctive relief prohibiting the company from engaging in race discrimination in the future, as well as back pay, compensatory and punitive damages for the former employee, and an order requiring the defendant to file EEO-1 Reports.
"No one should be denied the opportunity to earn a living because of his race," said Katharine W. Kores, district director of the EEOC's Memphis District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee and portions of Mississippi. "Such practices have been illegal under federal law for 50 years and have no place in the American workplace."
According to its website, www.homehealthcaretn.com, Care All provides skilled home health care services and has 43 offices in Tennessee.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its website at www.eeoc.gov.
