Dive Brief:
- Shimmick Construction allegedly engaged in sex-based discrimination against a woman employee and forced her to resign after she cooperated in a subsequent investigation, according to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
- At the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Chickamauga Lock Replacement project in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where Shimmick is the prime contractor, the woman was subjected to sex discrimination and gender-based slurs, according to the suit. Men working at the site cursed at her and refused to follow her instructions, even though she was acting general foreman, according to the suit. One man allegedly called her a derogatory name for a female body part.
- After the woman’s fiancé, also a former employee at the site, filed the complaint with Shimmick that triggered the investigation, a supervisor gave the woman a choice of immediately switching to the night shift — despite her need to arrange for child care — or handing in her keys and leaving her job, according to the lawsuit.
Dive Insight:
Irvine, California-based Shimmick, which specializes in large-scale water projects, disputed the narrative presented by the lawsuit.
“We firmly disagree with the characterization of the facts alleged in this complaint,” the company said in a statement shared with Construction Dive. “Shimmick notably has a long history of embracing diversity and fostering a culture that treats all employees with fairness, respect and dignity. We hold our teams to the highest ethical standards, with honesty, safety and professionalism central to everything we do.”
The EEOC’s lawsuit, filed Sept. 25 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, seeks back pay with interest for the woman worker, a permanent injunction barring Shimmick from engaging in retaliation in the future, and punitive damages, among other remedies.
“The EEOC prioritizes enforcing anti-retaliation laws, particularly in industries like construction, to ensure women are not punished for asserting their rights and to break down the barriers that perpetuate their underrepresentation,” said Edmond Sims, acting district director for the EEOC’s Memphis District Office, in a news release about the suit.
EEOC has stepped up its focus on discrimination in construction during President Joe Biden’s administration. It singled out pervasive discrimination in construction in a 2023 report and released an anti-harassment guide for construction contractors in June.