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EEOC accuses die maker of bias against women By John Caniglia, Reporter The Plain Dealer
July 24, 2003
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission this week filed a sexual discrimination case against Quaker Manufacturing Corp., saying that the Salem company and an affiliated employment agency refused to give women factory jobs based on the belief that women weren't suited for that type of work.
"Each person has to be judged for the job, not an entire class," said John Sargent, an attorney for the employment commission. He said the decisions were based on the belief that women would not be able to do the lifting needed on the job.
Quaker Manufacturing has about 90 employees. Its general manager, Don Hartman, declined to comment. A person answering the phone at Betz Job Service also declined to comment.
In a statement, the employment commission said it expects the evidence to show that Betz Job Service, acting on behalf of Quaker Manufacturing, screened women who applied for factory jobs and refused to give them the work, believing that the women would not fit in at the factory.
The commission said that the company did not have rest rooms for women and that there was a belief "that women did not want to do heavy lifting."
The suit involves Marland Billiter, a 30-year-old Salem woman who sought a job as a stamp-press operator at Quaker Manufacturing in May 2001. She went through Betz Job Services and was denied.
"Yes, I'm a woman, but give me a chance to show you that I can do the job before telling me no," Billiter said yesterday. "It doesn't matter whether it's a dirty job or if it's hard. What matters is if you can do the job."
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission wants Billiter and any other women who were denied jobs be given the chance to work there. The lawsuit also seeks damages.
In a statement, Michael Fetzer, the employment commission's director in Cleveland, said the companies declined to negotiate a settlement before the lawsuit was filed.
"When we find violations, we work with willing employers to try to remedy the unlawful practices," he said. "Litigation is a last resort and is reserved for employers who won't do the right thing."
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