A general contractor and three subcontractors have agreed to pay a total of $1,650,000 to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit accusing the companies of subjecting black workers to racial harassment at a construction site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The agency had filed a racial harassment lawsuit against Conectiv; A.C. Dellovade, Inc.; Steel Suppliers Erectors, Inc.; and Matrix Services Industrial Contractors (doing business as Bogan, Inc. /Hake Group) on behalf of African American employees who said they were subjected to egregious racial harassment. The EEOC alleged in the lawsuit that the companies, acting as joint employers, subjected a class of African American employees to racial slurs and graffiti as well as threats by hangman's nooses.

In settling the lawsuit, Conectiv agreed to pay $750,000 to the four class members, Matrix Services Industrial Contractors (doing business as Bogan, Inc./Hake Group) agreed to pay $450,000 to two class members, Steel Suppliers Erectors agred to pay $250,000 to one class member, and A.C. Dellovade agreed to pay $200,000 to one class member.

Racial harassment cases at the EEOC have surged since the early 1990s from 3,075 in fiscal year 1991 to nearly 7,000 in fiscal year 2007. In addition to investigating and voluntarily resolving tens of thousands of race discrimination cases out of court, the EEOC has sued more than three dozen employers this decade in racial harassment cases involving nooses.

On Feb. 28, 2007, EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp launched the Commission's E-RACE Initiative (Eradicating Racism And Colorism from Employment), a national outreach, education, and enforce­ment campaign focusing on new and emerging race and color issues in the 21st century workplace. Further information about the E-RACE Initiative is available on the EEOC's web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/e-race/index.html .