Custodial Company Must Clean Up Hiring Practices, EEOC Suit Says

A national janitorial services company unlawfully dissuaded black job seekers from applying for jobs in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., the EEOC alleged in a lawsuit (EEOC v. Diversified Maint. Sys., LLC, D. Md., No. 17-01835, complaint filed 7/5/17).

Eliminating barriers to recruitment and hiring is one of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s enforcement priorities, which it reiterated in its strategic plan for fiscal years 2017 through 2021.

Here, Diversified Maintenance Systems LLC managers were instructed not to hire black applicants for custodian, lead custodian, and porter positions unless “special permission was granted,” the EEOC said in a ...