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On 9/4/2002 at 7:36:13 PM
MD80AA wrote:
These type of lawsuits, is what is wrong with our country.
EOEC,takes things too far. Now we will all pay the price for it. Such as, you can now, not say anything, that is not politically correct. Because you may offend someone.
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Acually, the EEOC doesn't take things too far. In order for the EEOC to bring suit on behalf of a Charging Party, an extensive investigation must take place, and investigation that can take up to 2 years or more. I've never seen the EEOC take charges of discrimination lightly. If the woman's case did not have merit, they would have simply issued her a right to sue letter and sent her on her way with the recommendation that she hire a private attorney. Since the EEOC brought this suit, that usually means there was more to it than what the media reports, and that the EEOC issued a determination that weighed heavily in her favor. Chances are, she was a caboose case, and by that I mean she was the last in a string of similar complaints against AA, and one that had enough evidence that it could be used to bring a stop to the perceived discrimination, and to effect change in AA's policies that are discriminatory in nature. The EEOC also must make every attempt at a concilliation between the parties before proceeding to court. In that instance, AA more than likely stonewalled or outright told the EEOC to schmeg-off, so off to see the judge they went.
60K for a head wrap is outrageous. Prayer rooms on company time is, in itself, discriminatory against those who don't use them. There is no end in sight to what people will perceive to be discrimination and it seems the cheesier the case, the bigger the bucks, while the ones that have serious merit are punished in retaliation for all the garbage that win big awards.
All one need do is take the time to look into the EEOC filings against not only AA, but airlines in general and you'll find dozens upon dozens of discrimination complaints, the majority with merit. It has been the EEOC, and the Department of Labor who have helped to effect change in the way the airlines treat their employees, and have helped immensely to shape the diversity programs that many carriers, especially AA, now boast about as if the programs were created of their own accord.
This was clearly a case that was escalated due to the 9/11-muslim connection, and it was intended to send a message. Otherwise, a complaint as senseless as this would never have seen the light of day. AA, in it's zeal to back up it's many previous statements about how it's employees do not discriminate against the [deleted] travelers (read: passenger profiling), they gave in and settled the case in an attempt to send a message of their own. Unfortunately, the message backfired because the only message it sent was how stupid they were for shelling out 60K to someone who wanted to put a bed sheet on her head during working hours. This would have been the case that AA should have taken all the way to the jury, where anti-bed sheet sentiment since 9/11 would have given them a clear victory.