Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022:
Baldwinsville, New York-based Gypsum Express (CCJ Top 250, No. 174) is being sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over allegations of sex discrimination in hiring, as well as retaliation and constructive discharge involving two former recruiters.
EEOC alleged in its lawsuit that Gypsum has engaged “in a pattern or practice of hiring discrimination because of sex” in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Gypsum said in a statement to CCJ Monday that while it does not comment on pending litigation, the company “has been dealing with this EEOC investigation for the last five years and has fully cooperated with the EEOC’s investigation.
“Based on the information the company has presented in response to this investigation, we are disappointed that the Commission has decided to file this lawsuit,” Gypsum added. “The company has always been an equal opportunity employer, and we look forward to presenting our defense in court.”
The commission alleged that Gypsum has hired female flatbed drivers “at statistically significant lower rates than male drivers,” adding that between June 2016 and September 2017, the company had a same-sex trainer/trainee policy in place “that precluded recruiters from hiring inexperienced female applicants for driver positions” because the company did not have any female trainers “and was unwilling to pair female trainees with male trainers.”
EEOC added that Gypsum hired significantly fewer female drivers before, during and after the same-sex trainer/trainee policy.
