The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recorded a significant win in 2007, securing a settlement of about $1.6 million on behalf of a class of nearly 700 African Americans nationwide who suffered race discrimination.

At issue was a written test used by Ford Motor Corp., Visteon Corp., Automotive Components Holdings, and the United Auto Workers of America (UAW) to select job candidates for Ford’s skilled trades apprenticeship program. The test had a disproportionately negative impact on African-Americans.

As part of the settlement, the EEOC was also successful in securing non-monetary relief which, among other things, placed 55 African American test takers into the apprentice program. The settlement complements an earlier suit in 2005 brought by the EEOC against both Ford and the UAW, which was settled for $8.55 million. The most recent suit covers additional job candidates not covered in the 2005 settlement.

On December 3, 2007, the EEOC issued a new Employment Testing Fact Sheet, citing the Ford case.

The EEOC has already experienced similar success in 2008, receiving a landmark settlement of $2.5 million against Lockheed Martin in a race discrimination suit. In that case, a Black aviation electrician was persistently subjected to racial epithets and threatened with bodily harm by his White co-workers during his employment with Lockheed Martin. Click here to read more about the settlement.