Every little victory counts!


Supermarket settles discrimination claim Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 8:16 am


CHARLOTTE (AP) — A supermarket has agreed to pay a total of $40,000 to three former employees who accused the store of discriminating against non-Hispanic workers.

The former employees filed the complaint last year, saying they were forced out of their Compare Foods jobs in 2004 because they were not Hispanic. Two of the employees were black and one was white.

Compare Foods lawyer Phil Van Hoy said the company treated the workers fairly, arguing that a company with lots of Hispanic customers is allowed to have employees that can communicate with them.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission attorney Lynette Barnes said Compare couldn't prove that it was necessary job qualification to speak Spanish or relate to Hispanics. The company agreed to the settlement in federal court this week.

The grocery store chain was founded in Freeport, New York, and now has 50 supermarkets in seven states.




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