Agency settles worker lawsuit; Case concerns discrimination.

Byline: Lisa Eckelbecker

WORCESTER - A North Carolina employment agency has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit charging that the agency's former Worcester office restricted women to certain job assignments and retaliated against one woman who complained, the federal government reported yesterday.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that Preferred Labor LLC agreed to the settlement after selling its entire temporary day-labor employment business to another agency. U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV approved the settlement, which required Preferred Labor to pay $250,000 to women impacted by discriminatory practices, the EEOC said.

Preferred Labor could not be reached yesterday at its Charlotte, N.C., office for comment.

Under the settlement, Preferred Labor will pay $250,000 into a claims fund, the EEOC reported. Women who applied for work or obtained work through the Preferred Labor office in Worcester from Jan. 1, 2005, to April 23, 2007, may be eligible.

Arnold J. Lizana, the EEOC's lead lawyer on the case, said it was difficult to know how many individuals might be qualified for payments.

"It's a tough industry to locate people in because it's temporary and transient and people are moving around all the time," Mr. Lizana said. The fund "was based on our projections generated from experience we have with other companies."

The agreement settles a case that began in 2005 with an EEOC investigation of Preferred Labor's office at 326 Main St. in Worcester. That office and others once operated by Preferred Labor have since been acquired by a different organization which was not involved in the discrimination or settlement.

The EEOC charged that Preferred Labor classified temporary jobs as men's jobs or women's jobs and refused to refer women to employment classified as men's jobs. After Catherine Darensbourg of Worcester complained, the company retaliated against her by refusing to consider her for jobs, the EEOC claimed. The agency also complied with requests from one or more clients for only men workers, the EEOC charged.

Under the agreement, Catherine Darensbourg will receive $30,000 from the $250,000 claims fund. She could not be reached yesterday for comment. Krista Guglielmetti, who accompanied Ms. Darensbourg to the Preferred Labor office on a key date, will receive $20,000. She could not be reached for comment.

The remaining $200,000 will be distributed to people the EEOC determines are qualified for relief. Women who think they are eligible may call [phone] for information.