PHOENIX (AP) – The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Thursday it has filed a federal age and religious discrimination lawsuit in Arizona against the Orkin Pest Control company.
The lawsuit accuses Orkin of discriminatory hiring practices in denying jobs to older workers and favoring Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints applicants.
The EEOC lawsuit arose out of a charge of discrimination filed by 51-year-old Thomas Kokezas, who claimed that Orkin’s agent asked his age, then cut a job interview short.
The lawsuit also alleges Orkin advertised for a recruiter “to assist in hiring LDS missionaries for seasonal employment.”
According to the EEOC, such advertising was illegal because it shows a preference for a particular religion.
Rollins Inc., the parent company of Orkin, issued a statement Thursday.
Company spokeswoman Martha Craft in Atlanta said Orkin values its 8,000 hardworking co-workers and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
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May 24, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Del Curtis
The owner of a private business is allowed to set their own hiring requirements. They should not be held to someone else’s standard of hiring.
Government entities, however, should apply the EEOC standards, as the government, contrary to the belief of bureaucrats, belongs to all the people and therefore should reflect that ownership in its hiring practices.
May 25, 2010 at 11:37 am
chris reuter
Just another example of perhaps good intentions infringing on our rights! The EEOC should mind their own business, after all, isn’t affirmative action itself discriminatory? It does its hiring based on “race, color, religion, sex or national origin” rather than on actual work experience and other merit related qualifications!