Toyota Logistics Services Inc. has reached an out-of-court settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over a suit charging that hiring practices at its Port Newark facility are discriminatory against women and blacks, the EEOC said Wednesday.
Under the terms of the settlement, Toyota Logistics will pay an unspecified amount of compensation to the plaintiff and alter its recruitment practices in order to obtain a racially and sexually diverse pool of applicants.
The plaintiff, a black woman from New Jersey identified as Sandra Burrows, filed a sex-bias charge against Toyota Logistics after she was rejected for a position with its Port Newark facility in 1996 even though she had the right qualifications, the EEOC said.
"Employers must avoid recruitment practices that disproportionately exclude qualified minorities and women," EEOC Chairwoman Ida Castro said in a statement.
Jim Martin, Toyota Logistics' Port Newark manager, said since the beginning of this year the company has already hired a diverse group of 22 employees in a field that has traditionally been dominated by men.
Evidence obtained by the EEOC showed Toyota Logistics' policies and practices at its Port Newark facility resulted in an applicant pool that failed to reflect the relevant labor market availability for females and blacks in the local area, the EEOC said.
As part of the agreement, Toyota Logistics does not admit any violation of the law and denies that any of its agents or employees engaged in discriminatory conduct.