Feds say trucking company refused to hire female drivers for more than 30 years
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit against trucking company USF Holland, LLC on October 13, according to an EEOC news release.
The alleged violation occurred at the USF Holland terminal located in Olive Branch, Mississippi.
According to the EEOC suit USF Holland has employed “virtually no females as truck driver” at the Olive Branch location dating back to the opening of the terminal in 1986.
Authorities say that as of May 2016, more than 100 truck drivers were employed at the Olive Branch location and none were women.
“…Qualified women with extensive truck driving experience have applied over the years, but even when the women’s qualifications were equal or superior to those of male applicants, Holland hired men instead of women,” the EEOC alleges.
Hiring discrimination based on sex is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The suit seeks monetary relief in the form of back pay and compensatory damages, as well as an injunction against future discrimination.
“It is important for employers to understand that assumptions about gender roles have no place in employment decisions,” said Delner Franklin-Thomas, district director of the EEOC’s Memphis District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee and portions of Mississippi. “Denying women equal employment opportunities in the workplace because of gender is illegal.”
The number of women in trucking is growing, but they are still vastly outnumbered by male drivers. According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), as of 2017, 6.2% of all U.S. truckers were women. This is a small increase from 2008 when they made up 4.9% of the truck driving workforce.