Gig Harbor-based company faces sex discrimination lawsuit from EEOC in federal court
Federal authorities have sued a Gig Harbor-based company, alleging sex discrimination in how the company assigned work to women.
The SmartTalent staffing agency allegedly “violated federal law by repeatedly refusing to assign female workers to certain temporary jobs,” the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a press release Tuesday.
The News Tribune called and emailed SmartTalent on Wednesday for comment. Stephanie Ticknor, the vice president of operations, emailed a statement from the company.
“SmartTalent disagrees with the EEOC’s allegations, which we find are based on speculation and unfounded allegations from 2016,” the statement said. “SmartTalent is a locally owned, small business and does not discriminate on the basis of sex. We look forward to making our case through the legal system, but decline to comment further on active litigation at this time.”
The company’s website says it’s been in operation since 2001 and lists contact information for offices in Kirkland, Fife, Renton, Lynnwood and Lacey.
“According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, SmartTalent honored requests made by some business clients to fill positions with male workers only,” the news release said. “The EEOC charges that managers instructed recruiters to comply with these gender-based requests to keep their clients happy and that SmartTalent explicitly told female workers that certain jobs were not available to them or would not be a good placement due to their gender. For example, recruiters informed women that labor-intensive jobs would be too hard, that warehouse jobs were mainly for men, and that women didn’t belong there.”
The EEOC filed the lawsuit Aug. 5 in U.S. District Court in Seattle, according to court records.
The news release said they want anyone with information about the allegations to call 206-576-5636 or email smarttalent@eeoc.gov.
“On behalf of the women workers, the agency seeks lost wages, monetary damages including compensation for emotional distress, and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief such as a permanent injunction and ongoing monitoring procedures to ensure that SmartTalent complies with the law in the future,” the news release said.
