In March, 2006, the company was accused of infringing two patents owned by Orion IP, LLC, in a lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas. In May 2007, the company settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount and the case was dismissed.[28] In September, 2009, AutoZone was accused of infringing a patent owned by Lisle Corporation in a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Iowa.[29] In September, 2010, the company was sued by the US Equal Opportunity Employment Commission for firing an employee.[30] Autozone has been ordered to pay $75,000 plus attorneys’ fees and provide other nationwide relief to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC’s lawsuit, filed in September 2010, charged that AutoZone violated federal law when it subjected Frank Mahoney Burroughs, an employee who had converted to the Sikh religion, to harassment and refused to accommodate his religious need to wear a turban. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Massachusetts in Boston (Civil Action No. 1:10-cv-11648), AutoZone managers at its Everett, Mass., location harassed Mahoney Burroughs by disparaging his religion, asking if he had joined Al-Qaeda and whether he was a terrorist. AutoZone also failed to intervene when customers referred to him as “Bin Laden” and made terrorist jokes. The EEOC also charged that AutoZone refused to let Mahoney Burroughs wear a religiously mandated turban and kara (a religious bracelet). Finally, the EEOC alleged that AutoZone terminated him because of his religion and in retaliation for asking for an accommodation and complaining about discrimination.[31]
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 03:11:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015