The Ombuds Blog: Trucking Firm Settles Discrimination Lawsuit and Agrees to Hire Ombuds

January 29, 2009

Trucking Firm Settles Discrimination Lawsuit and Agrees to Hire Ombuds

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that it had settled a major sex discrimination lawsuit against Pitt Ohio Express, a carrier with 2,700 employees headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Under the terms of the settlement, the company will pay $2.43 million and provide other remedial relief to resolve claims of unlawful discrimination against women. Among other steps, Pitt Ohio must designate an in-house Ombuds to informally resolve workplace issues that may arise from women filling driver and dockworker jobs. Unfortunately, the court seems to have avoided consulting any relevant authority in creating the Ombuds program. The consent decree states:

Pitt Ohio will appoint from its human resources department an ombudsperson to resolve informally issues arising from or which result from women entering driver and/or dockworker positions pursuant to the terms of this Decree. To the extent necessary, Pitt Ohio will issue procedures for submission and handling of issues by the ombudsperson. The ombudsperson will not be the person in the human resources department responsible for responding to EEO charges or other EEO compliance.

Hopefully, someone will take the time to learn about how an Ombuds program should be structured before this is implemented. The case is EEOC v. Pitt Ohio Express Inc., N.D. Ohio, No. 06-747 (Consent Decree; EEOC Announcement; OHS Online.)

Related post: Nike Settles Discrimination Lawsuit, Agrees to Ombuds; Study: Settling Better Than Winning a Lawsuit.

2 comments:

Anonymous1/30/2009 6:52 AM
We have seen this problem over and over - Consent Decrees which use the word Ombuds, but offer NO guidance to the organization, site no standards, and make no statements as to intent, effect, and desired outcome.

Perhaps a course for consent decree writers?
Or a way for the firms entering into the decree to obtain professional support with the expertise and ability to help them build a quality program?
ReplyDelete
Replies
Hino12/07/2009 8:38 PM
I agree John, seems to be a real lack of guidance for organizations.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

Comment Policy

Content and Relevance

Stay on topic: Comments should be relevant to the post.
Be respectful: Personal attacks, insults, profanity, inflammatory language, and discriminatory or harassing comments will not be tolerated.
No self-promotion or spam: Comments should contribute to the conversation and not be used to for commercial purposes.
No confidential information: Do not share confidential information about your organization or visitors.

Length and Format

Keep it concise: Comments should be clear and to the point. Excessively long comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Use appropriate formatting: Do not use all caps unnecessarily. Comments may include HTML formatting for readability.

Other Considerations

Be professional and respectful: Please be mindful of your content, even when commending anonymously.
Comments may be edited: I reserve the right to remove or edit any comments that violate these guidelines. My edits will be noted.
Complaints about IOA: This is not the appropriate forum to lodge formal complaints against the International Ombuds Association.
Guest editorials: Please email me directly to discuss a guest editorial offering a longer, more in-depth perspective on a topic related to the organizational ombuds profession