More than 30 LA dock companies are being sued for gender & race discrimination, a Los Angeles employment attorney explains. Here’s more on this case.
More than 30 port terminal and dock companies in Los Angeles and Long Beach have been named as defendants in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed in a California state court just a few weeks ago.
This complaint, which has been filed on behalf of two African-American women, alleges that the defendants – who include 32 companies and the Pacific Maritime Association – continue to practice gender and race discrimination:
- In preventing women of color from rising to higher-level marine clerk positions; and
- In direct violation of a former court case one of the plaintiffs won against these port companies about 15 years ago.
A Closer Look at the Allegations in this Gender & Race Discrimination Case
As court documents explain, the previous discrimination case (Simsisulu, Good, et al. v. Pacific Maritime Association) alleged that the port and dock companies had policies in place that prevented African American women from being able to be promoted to the “walking boss foreman” position.
Filed in 1999, the case was reportedly sent to arbitration in September 2003, where the plaintiffs secured a “seminal, groundbreaking” victory, as the panel ruled that discrimination was at play and that the discriminatory practices had to be abandoned to provide opportunities for African American women to achieve the position of walking boss foreman.
Despite this previous victory, however, the new complaint alleges that the plaintiff has still been overlooked for promotion due to her color and gender and that:
[The] defendants have failed to follow the policies and procedures for selecting steadies as proscribed in Simsisulul Good; and these violations, among other things, resulted in the exclusion of the plaintiffs and other African-American females as steady walking boss foremen
The complaint goes on to contend that the defendants have been relying on discriminatory employment practices since at least 2003 and that employer retaliation is likely a factor in the persisting discrimination against the plaintiffs in this case.
The defendants in this case have yet to issue an official statement or comment.
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Contact a Los Angeles Employment Attorney at Urbanic & Associates
Have you been the target of workplace discrimination, harassment or retaliation? If so, you can turn to Los Angeles employment attorney at Urbanic & Associates for help defending your rights and pursuing justice. Since 2000, our lawyers have been dedicated, aggressive advocates for our clients, helping them stand up to even the most formidable opponents in any legal setting.
To find out more about your options for justice and how we can help you, call (310) 216-0900 or send our firm an email using the contact form on this page.
From our offices based in Los Angeles, Attorney James Urbanic provides superior representation to clients throughout Los Angeles County and southern California, including (but not limited to) those in Glendale, Burbank, Alhambra, Van Nuys, Santa Monica and Orange County.
