EEOC Sues Mile Hi Companies for Unlawfully Discriminating Against Job Applicants

DENVER - Mile Hi Companies, a group of businesses that distribute food and paper products, violated federal law when it issued and followed discriminatory hiring directives, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed yesterday.

According to the lawsuit, Mile Hi unlawfully denied employment opportunities to Black, female, and Afghan job applicants. The discriminatory directives came from the highest executive and included a handwritten note from the CEO not to hire beyond a certain number of Black applicants because they are "lazy." He also provided instructions not to hire women for warehouse jobs because they were not effective at manual labor and would distract other workers, as well as directions to stop hiring Afghan applicants for bakery jobs because there were too many "Afghanistans" employed in the bakery. When Marianne Apodaca, the human resources manager, opposed these discriminatory directives and told executives that these practices violated the law, Mile Hi engaged in unlawful retaliation by harassing and ultimately firing her.

Such alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits retaliation and discrimination based on race, color, sex, and national origin, including discriminatory hiring. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Mile Hi Foods, Co., et al., Case No. 1-24-cv-02703, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

"Title VII protects workers who refuse to follow orders to discriminate by making retaliation illegal," said Mary Jo O'Neill, the EEOC's Phoenix District regional attorney. "Hiring should be based on a worker's merits and qualifications, not based on unfounded racist and sexist stereotypes."

Amy Burkholder, field director of the EEOC's Denver Field Office, said, "It is unacceptable for employers to deny employment opportunities to applicants because of their race, color, sex, or national origin."

For more information on race and color discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination. For more information on sex-based discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination. For more information on national origin discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC's Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction over Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and part of New Mexico.

The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.