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Dive Brief:
- Shimmick Construction allegedly engaged in sex discrimination against a female worker and forced her to resign after she cooperated in a subsequent investigation, according to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.
- At the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project in Chattanooga, Tenn., where Shimmick is the prime contractor, the woman was subjected to sexual discrimination and gender-based slurs, according to the lawsuit. The men who worked at the site cursed at her and refused to follow her instructions, even though she was acting as a general foreman, according to the suit. A man allegedly called her a derogatory name for a female body part.
- After the woman’s fiance, also a former employee at the site, made the complaint to Shimmick that triggered the investigation, a supervisor gave the woman the option of immediately switching to the night shift — even though she needed to arrange the daycare— or hand over the keys. and leave your job, according to the demand.
Diving knowledge:
Irvine, Calif.-based Shimmick, which specializes in large-scale water projects, disputed the narrative presented by the lawsuit.
“We strongly disagree with the characterization of the facts alleged in this complaint,” the company said in a statement shared with Construction Dive. “Shimmick has a long history of embracing diversity and fostering a culture that treats all employees with fairness, respect and dignity. We hold our teams to the highest ethical standards, with honesty, safety and professionalism central to everything we do.”
The EEOC lawsuitfiled Sept. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, seeks a permanent injunction barring Shimmick from engaging in future retaliation, back payments with interest to the employee and punitive damages, among other remedies .
“The EEOC prioritizes enforcing anti-retaliation laws, especially in industries like construction, to ensure that women are not punished for asserting their rights and to break down barriers that perpetuate their underrepresentation,” said Edmond Sims , acting district director of the EEOC’s Memphis district. Office, in a press release about the lawsuit.
EEOC has intensified its focus on discrimination in construction during the administration of President Joe Biden. He stood out Generalized discrimination in construction in a 2023 report and published a Anti-harassment guide for construction contractors in June
