Written by Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – Equal employment opportunities in the United States an opportunity (SO:) The Commission on Friday filed a lawsuit against two major automakers, accusing General Motors (NYSE:) and the United Auto Workers of age discrimination and the Stellantis (NYSE:) unit that includes Chrysler of subjecting female employees to sexual harassment.
GM and the UAW have been accused since October 2019 of maintaining a sickness and accident benefits policy under the collective bargaining agreement that reduces payments to older employees receiving Social Security benefits.
The policy, which covers at least 50 GM facilities across the country, discriminates against employees 66 and older, violating the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the EEOC said.
Meanwhile, Stellantis' US FCA unit has been accused since December 2020 of tolerating rampant sexual harassment of female employees at a Detroit assembly plant, and routinely ignored their complaints about male supervisors and co-workers, some of whom were placed in leadership roles.
The alleged harassment included inappropriate touching and sexually charged comments, as well as the FCA's failure to discipline male harassers, creating a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC said.
GM had no immediate comment, as it has not yet reviewed its complaint. The FCA and UAW did not immediately respond to requests for comment about their cases.
The lawsuit from GM and the United Auto Workers seeks to recover benefits that workers 66 or older were entitled to but never received, while the FCA suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for female employees at the Detroit plant. .
Both cases also seek permanent injunctions against further unlawful conduct.
GM and the UAW were sued in federal court in New Albany, Indiana, while FCA was sued in Detroit federal court.
The lawsuits are part of a series of enforcement actions taken by several federal agencies in the final days of the Biden administration.
It is unclear how the EEOC's enforcement priorities will change after President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House.
