Case 6:06-cv-02049-LRR Document 3-1 Filed 06/30/2006 Page 1 of 4

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA EASTERN DIVISION

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

)

COMMISSION,

)

Plaintiff,

)

)

v.

)

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CITY & NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT

)

)

Defendant.

)

)

__________________________________________)

Civil Action No. CV06-2049-LRR
COMPLAINT (Jury Trial Demand)

NATURE OF THE ACTION

This is an action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, (“Title VII”),

and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to correct unlawful employment practices on the basis of

sex, and to provide appropriate relief for Lauren A. Steffen, who was adversely affected by such

practices. As stated with greater particularity in paragraph eight (8) below, Plaintiff, United States

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) alleges that Defendant, City & National

Employment (“City & National”), discriminated against Lauren A. Steffen because of her sex.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1. Jurisdiction of this Court is invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 451, 1331, 1337, 1343,

and 1345. This action is authorized and instituted pursuant to Sections 706(f)(1) and (3) of Title VII

of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-5(f)(1) and (3) and Section 102

of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 1981a.

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2. The employment practices alleged to be unlawful were committed within the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Eastern Division.
PARTIES 3. EEOC is the agencyof the United States of America charged with the administration, interpretation, and enforcement of Title VII, and is expressly authorized to bring this action by Sections 706(f)(1) and (3) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1) and (3). 4. At all relevant times City & National has continuously been a company doing business in the State of Iowa, and has continuously had at least 15 employees. 5. At all relevant times City & National has continuously been an employer engaged in an industry affecting commerce within the meaning of Sections 701(b), (g), and (h) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e(b), (g), and (h). 6. At all relevant times City & National has been an employment agency within the meaning of Section 701(c) of Title VII, § 42 U.S.C. 2000e(c).
STATEMENT OF CLAIMS 7. More than 30 days prior to the commencement of this lawsuit, Lauren A. Steffen filed a charge with EEOC alleging violations of Title VII by Defendant. All conditions precedent to the institution of this lawsuit have been fulfilled. 8. Since at least April of 2005, City & National has engaged in unlawful employment practices in violation of Sections 703(a) and (b) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. §§2000e-2(a) and (b) by engaging in discriminatory hiring practices when it refused to refer Lauren A. Steffen to a certain type of job because of her sex.
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9. The effect of the practice(s) complained of in paragraph eight (8) above has been to deprive Lauren A. Steffen of equal employment opportunities and otherwise adversely affect her status as an employee because of her sex.
10. The unlawful employment practices complained of in paragraph eight (8) above were intentional.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF Wherefore, EEOC respectfully requests that this Court: A. Grant a permanent injunction enjoining City & National, and its officers, agents, successors, assigns, and all persons in active concert or participation with them, from engaging in any employment practice which discriminates on the basis of sex; B. Order City & National to institute and carry out policies, practices, and programs which provide equal employment opportunities for Lauren A. Steffen, and which eradicate the effects of its past and present unlawful employment practices; C. Order City & National to make Lauren A. Steffen whole by providing appropriate back-pay, job search expenses and relocation expenses, if applicable, in an amount to be proven at trial, and other affirmative relief necessary to eradicate the effects of its unlawful employment practices, including, but not limited to, rightful place instatement; D. Order City & National to make Lauren A. Steffen whole by compensating her for past and future non-pecuniary losses resulting from the unlawful practices complained of in paragraph eight (8) above, including injury to professional reputation, emotional pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and humiliation, in amounts to be determined at trial;
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E. Grant such further relief as the Court deems necessary and proper in the public interest; and
F. Award EEOC its costs in this action. JURY TRIAL DEMAND
EEOC requests a jury trial on all issues of fact raised by its Complaint. Respectfully submitted,

Dated: June 29, 2006

James Lee Deputy General Counsel
Gwendolyn Young Reams Associate General Counsel

/s/ John Hendrickson John Hendrickson Regional Attorney

/s/ Rosemary J. Fox Rosemary J. Fox Supervisory Trial Attorney

/s/ Deborah J. Powers Deborah J. Powers Senior Trial Attorney
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
Milwaukee District Office 310 West Wisconsin Avenue - Suite 800 Milwaukee, WI 53203-2992 (414) 297-3983

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 Case 6:06-cv-02049-LRR Document 4-1 Filed 07/24/2006 Page 1 of 8

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF lOWA EASTERN DIVISION

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION,
Plaintiff,
v.
CITY & NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT
Defendant.

)

)

)

)

Civil Action No. CV06-2049-LRR

)

)

)

)

)

)

CONSENT DECREE AND ORDER 1. This Consent Decree (the "Decree") is made and entered into by and between Plaintiff, United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (hereinafter "EEOC") and Defendant, City & National Employment ("City")(EEOC and City are collectively referred to herein as "the Parties"). 2. In June, 2006, EEOC initiated this action by filing its Complaint against City alleging City violated Title VII ofthe Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, ("Title VII"), when it allegedly discriminated against Lauren Steffen because of her sex. 3. Neither party admits or denies the claims or defenses of the other, and City waives filing an Answer. 4. In the interest of resolving this matter and as a result ofhaving engaged in comprehensive settlement negotiations, the Parties have agreed that this action should be finally resolved by entry of this Decree. This Decree shall not constitute an adjudication and/or

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finding on the merits ofthe case. 5. This Decree constitutes the complete agreement between EEOC and City with
respect to the matters referred to herein. No waiver, modification or amendment of any provision of this Decree shall be effective unless made in writing, approved by all parties to this Decree and approved by the Court or ordered by the Court.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Court having carefully examined the terms and provisions of this Consent Decree, and based on the pleadings, record and stipulations of the Parties, it is ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED THAT:
6. This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action and over the Parties for purposes of entering and enforcing this Decree.
7. The terms of this Decree are adequate, fair, reasonable, equitable and just. 8. This Decree conforms with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and is not in derogation of the rights or privileges of any person. The entry of this Decree will further the objectives of Title VII, and will be in the best interests of the Parties, those for whom EEOC seeks relief, and the public. 9. This Decree resolves all claims arising out ofthe Charge of Discrimination filed by Lauren Steffen against City, Charge No. 260-2005-04955, and constitutes a complete resolution of all claims under Title VII that EEOC made or could have made in this action. SCOPE OF CONSENT DECREE 10. The duration of this Decree shall be two (2) years from the date of entry of the Decree. During that time, this Court shall retain jurisdiction over this matter and the Parties for purposes of enforcing compliance with the Decree, including issuing such orders as may be
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required to effectuate its purposes. GENERAL INJUNCTIVE PROVISION
11. Sex discrimination: City and its officers, agents, management (including supervisory employees), successors and assigns are hereby enjoined from: (i) discriminating against employees or applicants, whether working in or applying for any temporary or permanent position\ on the basis of their sex; and/or (ii) engaging in or being a party to any action, policy or practice that is intended to or is known to them to have the effect of discriminating against an employee or applicant, whether working in or applying for any temporary or permanent position, based on sex. In the event one of City's clients requests sex specific criteria for placement of a worker (such as referring only male workers for the available position), City shall not honor such a request and will advise the client of City's policy against sex discrimination, and shall provide the client with City's written sex discrimination policy developed pursuant to paragraph twelve (12) herein, and a copy of Exhibit A attached hereto. TRAINING & POLICIES
12. Within ninety (90) days of entry ofthis Decree, City shall develop and implement internal written policies and procedures that, at a minimum: (i) provide a definition of sex discrimination, including examples to supplement the definition; (ii) discusses City's prohibition against sex discrimination in hiring and placement criteria, including the duty not to set or agree to discriminatory hiring criteria when placing temporary employees with clients, and the process an employee should follow if he or she suspects a client is requesting that City engage in
As used throughout this Decree, the term "temporary employee" means an individual City hires to place with clients, and the term "permanent employee" means a member of the staff City employs to run its day-to-day operations.
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discriminatory hiring or placement criteria; (iii) provide that complaints of sex discrimination will be accepted by City in writing and orally, including the name and contact person to whom such complaints should be made; and (iv) provide for discipline ifthe employee engages in sex discrimination. The inclusion of paragraph twelve (12) in the Decree does not mean that EEOC or the Court approves of the policy against sex discrimination that City will develop and implement.
13. City agrees that it shall provide mandatory annual training regarding sex discrimination to all of the permanent employees on its staff once per calendar year until the expiration of this Decree. City, with the approval of EEOC's Milwaukee Area Office, will choose one or more outside trainers to complete the training. The annual training shall include training in regard to: Title VII, including, but not limited to, sex discrimination; complaint procedures for reporting sex discrimination; techniques for investigating and stopping sex discrimination; City's duty not to discriminate based on sex, including the duty not to set or agree to discriminatory hiring criteria when placing temporary employees with clients; and City's sex discrimination policy as referenced in paragraph twelve (12) above. City must, within 60 days of completion of the annual training, provide EEOC's Milwaukee Area Office with a list of those trained and the date and description of the training provided. The training for 2006 was partially completed on May 24, 2006, and the remainder of the 2006 training, which must include training regarding internal complaint procedures for reporting sex discrimination, techniques for investigating sex discrimination and City's sex discrimination policy as referenced in paragraph twelve (12) above, shall be completed within ninety (90) days of entry ofthis Decree.
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DISSEMINATION OF POLICY STATEMENT 14. Within 30 days of execution of this Consent Decree, City agrees to adopt and
disseminate a Policy to all its temporary and permanent employees affirming its obligation to comply with Title VII, and affirming that it is the responsibility of these employees to comply with Title VII. The Policy shall specifically include information concerning the duty of City not to discriminate based on sex in the hiring process and the placement process, and the complaint procedure an employee may follow if he or she has a complaint about sex discrimination, including the name, work location and telephone number of at least one permanent employee charged with investigating such issues. Attached to the Policy should be a copy of City's internal policies and procedures regarding sex discrimination as referenced in paragraph twelve (12) above. Once each year for the duration of this Decree, City shall re-issue the Policy to all of its existing temporary and permanent employees. All new temporary and permanent employees shall receive a copy of the Policy and City's internal written policies and procedures regarding sex discrimination during employee orientation.
Furthermore, within ten (1 0) business days of distributing the Policy, City shall forward a copy of the Policy to EEOC and shall certify in writing that it distributed the Policy to all of its temporary and permanent employees. The inclusion of paragraph fourteen (14) in the Decree does not mean that EEOC or the Court approved of City's policy against sex discrimination. POSTING.
15. City shall place a public notice, in a conspicuous place, for a period of two (2) years from the date of entry of this Consent Decree and Order. The notice shall be in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A and captioned "Official Notice To All Employees of City &
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National Employment"

RIGHT OF ENTRY FOR INSPECTION

16. EEOC shall have the right to enter upon City's premises and inspect any relevant

documents or records for the purpose of determining City's compliance with this Consent Decree

and Order.

MONETARY RELIEF

17. City agrees, within fifteen (15) days of signature ofthis Consent Decree and Order

by the Court, to pay Lauren A. Steffen a total of$8,500.00, of which $2,013.20 represents

backpay, and $6,486.80 represents compensatory damages under the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42

U.S.C. § 198la. City shall mail Ms. Steffen's payment to the address provided to City by EEOC,

simultaneously mailing a copy of the check to counsel for EEOC.

COSTS AND NOTICES

18. City agrees to pay all costs associated with the administration ofthis Decree,

except as is specifically provided otherwise in this Decree.

19. Each Party shall bear its own litigation costs and attorneys' fees associated with

this litigation, except as otherwise provided for in this Decree, and neither Party shall seek

reimbursement for any outstanding litigation costs.

20. Except as is otherwise provided for in this Decree, all notifications, reports

and communications to the Parties required under this Decree shall be made in writing and

shall be sufficient as hand-delivered or sent by first class mail to the following persons:

For EEOC:

For City:

Deborah J. Powers, Esq.

Beth E. Hansen, Esq.

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EEOC 310 West Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 800 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 Facsimile: (414) 297-3146 E-Mail: deborah.powers@eeoc.gov

Swisher & Cohert, P.L.C. 528 West Fourth Street P.O. Box 1200 Waterloo,·IA 50704 Facsimile: (319) 232-4835 E-Mail: hansen@s-c-law.com

Any party may change such addresses by written notice to the other parties, setting forth a new address for this purpose. Notwithstanding the provisions for notification contained in this paragraph, the Parties may send each other such notifications, reports and communications by facsimile transmission or e-mail.

*day of~ SO ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED this

2006.

Agreed to in form and content:
FOR THE PLAINTIFF, EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION Milwaukee Area Office 310 W. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 800 Milwaukee, WI 53203-2292 Phone: (414) 297-3983 Fax: (414) 297-3146
Is/ John Hendrickson John Hendrickson Regional Attorney
Is/ Rosemarv J. Fox Rosemary J. Fox
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Date: July 17, 2006 Date: July 17, 2006

Case 6:06-cv-02049-LRR Document 4-1 Filed 07/24/2006 Page 8 of 8 Supervisory Trial Attorney

Is/ Deborah J. Powers Deborah J. Powers Senior Trial Attorney deborah.powers@eeoc.gov
Agreed to in form and content:
FOR THE DEFENDANT CITY & NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT Beth E. Hansen Swisher & Cohert, P.L.C. 528 West Fourth Street P.O. Box 1200 Waterloo, IA 50704 Phone: (319) 232-6555 Fax: (319) 232-483 5 e-mail: hansen@s-c-law.com
Is/ Beth E. Hansen Beth E. Hansen, Esq.

Date: July 17, 2006 Date: July 14, 2006

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EXHIBIT A

OFFICIAL NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES OF

CITY & NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT

This notice is posted pursuant to a Consent Decree entered in a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), entitled EEOC v. City & National Employment, Case Number CV06·2049·LRR, filed in the United Stated District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Eastern Division.

A copy of the Consent Decree is available by contacting City & National Employment's Human Resources Department at [phone number].

In the lawsuit, EEOC alleges that City & National Employment ("City"), violated Title VII when it allegedly discriminated against a female employee because of her sex. City denies all allegations that it violated Title VII.

By agreement of the parties and without making any determination about the merits of the case, United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade has entered a consent decree, which provides that:

•

City will pay damages to the aggrieved individual;

•

City shall develop and implement policies regarding the prohibition of sex

discrimination in the workplace and in the hiring and placement process. This

will include the development of a document to be given to all new hires stating

their rights to be free from sex discrimination, and will also include a description

of the complaint procedure process the employee can follow in the event of a

discriminatory act;

•

City is enjoined from discriminating against any applicant or employee because of

their sex; and

•

City will develop and implement an annual training program to train all existing

permanent employees regarding its policies against sex discrimination.

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL NOTICE AND MUST NOT BE DEFACED BY ANYONE
This Notice must remain posted until [insert date Decree expires], and must not be altered, defaced or covered by any other material. Any questions about this Notice or Consent Decree may be directed to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 31 0 West Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 800, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53203, 1-800·669·4000.

Dated: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Signature of executive represents City

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U.S. District Court Northern District of Iowa (Eastern Waterloo) CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 6:06-cv-02049-LRR

CLOSED

United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. City & National Employment Assigned to: Chief Judge Linda R Reade Referred to: Chief Magistrate John A Jarvey Cause: 42:2000e Job Discrimination (Employment)

Date Filed: 06/29/2006 Jury Demand: None Nature of Suit: 442 Civil Rights: Jobs Jurisdiction: U.S. Government Plaintiff

Plaintiff
United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

represented by Deborah J Powers EEOC Milwaukee Area Office 310 W Wisconsin Avenue Suite 800 **ECF Milwaukee, WI 53203-2292 414 297 3983 Fax: 414 297 3146 Email: deborah.powers@eeoc.gov LEAD ATTORNEY ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

V. Defendant City & National Employment

Date Filed 06/29/2006 06/29/2006
06/30/2006

#

Docket Text

1 NOTICE OF NEW CASE FILING by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (Attachments: # 1 New Case Packet)(ksy, ) (Entered: 06/29/2006)
2 Summons Issued as to City & National Employment. ****PLEASE MAKE COPIES OF SUMMONS FOR EACH DEFENDANT AND FILL IN REMAINING INFORMATION**** (ksy, ) (Entered: 06/29/2006)
3 COMPLAINT and Jury Demand against City & National Employment, filed by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Scheduling Report due by 11/13/2006 (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet)(Powers, Deborah) Modified on 7/3/2006 to add text as to Jury Demand and to remove filing fee text (des, ). (Entered: 06/30/2006)

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4 Consent Decree and ORDER. Signed by Judge Linda R Reade on 7/24/06. (Attachments: #(1) Exhibit A)(de) Modified on 7/24/2006 - faxed to Beth Hansen, John Hendrickson and Rosemary Fox. (de). (Entered: 07/24/2006)

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