Federal Lawsuit Charges Food Delivery Company Failed to Honor Conciliation Agreement
NORFOLK, Va. – Value Unlimited, Inc., doing business as ChowCall, a food delivery service in Norfolk, Virginia, violated the law by refusing to comply with the terms of a conciliation agreement, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
According to the EEOC, Value Unlimited participated in an EEOC conciliation in September 2022, which is a process to resolve discrimination charges informally before litigation. At conciliation, the EEOC and Value Unlimited entered into an agreement to resolve a disability discrimination charge requiring the company to pay $11,000 to a former employee in three installments, train employees, and to post a notice about the agreement. The company failed to make the last installment payment of $7,000 to the employee and failed to report posting the agreement notice.
The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Value Unlimited, Inc d/b/a ChowCall, Civil Action No. 2:24-cv-00724) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, to enforce the terms of the agreement and recover its costs for having to bring this action in federal court.
“Congress provided the conciliation process to give employers the opportunity to resolve discrimination charges with minimal disruption to their business,” said Melinda C. Dugas, EEOC’s regional attorney for the Charlotte District. “When an employer defaults on this kind of agreement, the EEOC will take legal action to enforce it.”
For more information on the EEOC’s conciliation process, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/what-you-should-know-eeoc-conciliation-and-litigation.
The EEOC’s Charlotte District is charged with enforcing federal employment anti-discrimination laws in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.
