EEOC sues Colorado cleaning companies for allegedly discriminating against American workers
The EEOC says the companies rejected qualified American and non-Hispanic applicants while favoring workers they allegedly believed they could more easily exploit.
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a federal lawsuit June 30 against three related Colorado cleaning companies, accusing them of excluding qualified American and non-Hispanic applicants from janitorial jobs in the state while favoring workers of Latin American origin.
Filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the lawsuit targets Triad Solution Services, Pro Cleaning Services, and All Cleaning Service, LLC, which provide janitorial and maintenance services to schools, businesses, and grocery stores. The EEOC alleges the companies engaged in a hiring scheme from at least 2016 to 2022 that violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to an EEOC press release.
“Every worker — regardless of national origin — is entitled to fair consideration for employment,” EEOC Denver Field Office Director Sherrie Hayashi said in the release. “Federal law prohibits employers from refusing to hire non-Hispanic American job applicants.”
The agency said the companies maintained Triad’s Colorado workforce as made up almost entirely of workers of Latin American origin because they allegedly believed those employees would tolerate unlawful working conditions and be easier to intimidate.
After allegedly steering hiring toward workers of Latin American origin, the companies subjected those employees to intimidation and coercive working conditions, the EEOC said. Workers reported being told they had no right to complain because they were not American, according to the agency. Employees also described threats, harassment, and a general atmosphere of fear.
The EEOC alleged workers were required to work seven days a week, denied overtime pay, misclassified as independent contractors, and discouraged from raising concerns about wages or treatment.
Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Phoenix District, said employers cannot “screen out American and non-Hispanic applicants” to maintain a workforce “they believe will accept unlawful working conditions.”
“Such practices violate federal law,” she added. “The EEOC will aggressively investigate and, when necessary, prosecute employers that engage in discriminatory hiring schemes.
