United Airlines (“United”) recently agreed to pay $99k to settle claims that a former employee at Denver International Airport was subjected to a hostile work environment based on his race (Asian) and national origin (Mongolian).
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed a lawsuit on behalf of the employee alleging that United violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Specifically, the lawsuit alleged that the employee’s colleagues called him “Chinaman” for more than six months, and that one of United’s managers shouted at the employee, “What did you say, chink?”, grabbed and twisted the employee’s arm while asking if he valued his job, and then told the employee, “Lucky for you, I’m a good guy,” while slapping the employee on the back. The lawsuit further alleged that the employee complained to his supervisor and gave a written statement to another manager, but because he was not contacted that day, he gave his two weeks’ notice. The lawsuit further alleged that in his final two weeks, no one from United contacted the employee. Finally, the lawsuit alleged that United did not start an investigation until more than a month later, during which time it gave the manager a raise, and that months later United gave the manager a separation agreement that allowed him to retire in lieu of termination.
Although United eventually investigated the concerns, the EEOC claimed that United did not act quickly enough to address the harassment and failed to reassure the employee that any corrective measures would be taken. As a result, the EEOC claimed United failed to protect the employee from further harassment and contributed to and exacerbated the racially hostile work environment.
In addition to paying $99k to settle the lawsuit, United agreed to give the former employee 75,000 flight miles, modify its workplace violence policy to include a 72-hour investigation window for any complaint of workplace violence, to review its discrimination and harassment policies, and to submit regularly scheduled compliance reports to the EEOC for three years.
What this means to you:
Employers must take all reported concerns seriously, must promptly investigate them, and must take appropriate action to stop any wrongdoing and prevent it from happening again. The gold standard for starting investigations is within 24 hours.
To help prevent harassment claims, make sure your managers and HR understand their obligations with respect to appropriate conduct and addressing complaints. To learn how our Managing Within the Law and other programs can help or to book a workshop, please call 800-458-2778 or email us.
Updated 04-07-2025
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.
