Firm settles EEOC suit for $13.5K

A gift shop owner has settled for $13,500 a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that the company discriminated against a pregnant employee. But the company, through its lawyer, explained why it settled and slammed the EEOC attorneys for “abusing their federal powers.”

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Alex R. Munson yesterday dismissed the EEOC’s discrimination lawsuit against Kumanomi Island Co. Ltd. and closed the file.

Munson issued the order after EEOC and Kumanomi Island entered into a consent decree that settles the lawsuit.

The parties agreed that the consent decree is not an adjudication or finding on the merits of the case and shall not be construed as an admission of a violation of the law.

EEOC alleged that Kumanomi Island discriminated against Emily S. Barcelo when she was terminated because of her pregnancy.

The defendant answered the complaint and denied liability on all EEOC’s claims.

Pursuant to the consent decree, Kumanomi Island will pay $13,500 by April 14, 2006 to Barcelo in full settlement of the discrimination claims. The parties shall bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees.

Attorney Michael W. Dotts, counsel for Kumanomi Island, signed the consent decree. Attorneys William R. Tamayo, David Offen-Brown, and Wilfredo Tungol entered the decree for EEOC.

But Dotts, in a release issued yesterday, accused EEOC attorneys of abusing their powers and abusing small businesses like Kumanomi by filing cases such as this.

Dotts said a small business can hardly afford a jury trial in federal court and, as a result, ends up “paying nuisance money to the EEOC.”

“EEOC believes that on Saipan, the firing of pregnant employees is rampant. There is no evidence of this. This is just gossip. There is no great public policy issue that the EEOC is attempting to address through cases like this,” the lawyer said.

Dotts said there are bad employers on Saipan, just as there are throughout the U.S.

“But for the EEOC attorneys to spot an abuser, they need to look in the mirror,” he said, explaining that Kumanomi Island is a small company that operates a gift shop and a coffee shop in Garapan.

Dotts said in fact his client has a track record of retaining pregnant employees and providing health insurance for them as the law requires.

He said that EEOC’s belief that Kumanomi Island did not renew the employment contract of its saleslady, Barcelo, because she was pregnant was “untrue and unfounded.”

Dotts said it was documented that Barcelo’s sales were well below compared to that of her peers.

“We have receipts to prove this,” the lawyer pointed out.

Dotts said his client decided to settle the case because it is cheaper than going through a jury trial.

He added that the company’s manager, Mayumi Nakadai, opted to settle so she could focus more on obtaining medical treatment, which would entail traveling between Saipan and Japan.