San Antonio Spa/Resort to Pay $2.6M to Settle National Origin Discrimination Suit
The former operators of a spa and resort in San Antonio, Texas, to pay $2,625,000 to settle a national origin discrimination lawsuit brought by a federal agency.
The lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged that the operators of the La Cantera Resort and Spa in San Antonio violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting Hispanic banquet staff to a hostile work environment based on their national origin and by retaliating against workers who opposed a restrictive language policy.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, after assuming control of the resort La Cantera’s new managers subÂjected at least 25 Hispanic banquet employees to verbal abuse and mistreatment because of their national origin.
In describing the mistreatment, the EEOC’s complaint alleged that the managers had implemented and harshly enforced a policy forbidding banquet staff from speaking Spanish at anytime and anywhere in the resort. One of the managers allegedly referred to Spanish as “a foul language” and used derogatory terms when referring to Hispanics.
The lawsuit alleged that when banquet employees raised concerns about these practices, the employer retaliated against some by demoting and firing them and replacing them with non-Hispanic employees. The EEOC claimed that as a direct result of the discrimination and retaliation, the formerly all-Hispanic senior management group in the banquet department was reduced to having no Hispanic managers.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on national origin, including harassment and retaliation, forbids such alleged conduct. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division (EEOC v. DH San Antonio Management, LLC. et al., Civil Action No. 5:18-cv-00990) after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process.
The two-year consent decree resolving this case, approved by U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam, requires La Cantera and its successors to pay monetary damages of $2,625,000; to post a notice of intent to comply with Title VII; and to provide training to La Cantera’s employees informing them of their rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The consent decree resolving this case also provides for La Cantera’s revision of policies regarding the use of languages other than English in the workplace.
The San Antonio Field Office is part of the EEOC’s Dallas District Office which is responsible for processing charges of discrimination, administrative enforcement, and the conduct of agency litigation in Texas and parts of New Mexico.
Many of the class members were also represented by private counsel of the Espinoza Law Firm PLLC of San Antonio, Texas.
Source: EEOC