EEOC Sues Trebor USA Corp., Colt Truck Care, LLC, and Wholesale Building Products, LLC, for Discrimination Against Hispanic and Black Employees

MIAMI - Trebor USA Corp., Colt Truck Care, LLC, and Wholesale Building Products, LLC, construction parts and auto-mechanic companies in Hollywood, Florida, violated federal law when they subjected employees to harassment, including racial comments and derogatory remarks about national origin, and fired an employee for complaining about racist abuse from his supervisor, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, a longtime supervisor at Colt Truck Care regularly degraded Hispanic and Black employees calling them by racial epithets and other crude and hateful language. He also complained about having to pay them the same as their white counterparts. After employees reported the abuse, management did nothing to stop the supervisor's behavior and even retaliated against one of the reporting employees by firing him.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin and race. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Trebor USA Corp., Colt Truck Care, LLC, and Wholesale Building Products, LLC), Case No. 0:24-cv-61817) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

"Title VII applies to everyone and every industry," said EEOC Miami Regional Attorney Kristen Foslid. "We will continue to enforce anti-discrimination laws on behalf of all workers, particularly in situations like this, where a supervisor's racist abuse went unchecked for years."

Evangeline Hawthorne, the EEOC's Miami district director, said, "We hope this lawsuit will send a message that the EEOC will fully investigate employers accused of discriminating against Hispanic and Black employees - and bring legal proceedings against those employers when necessary."

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

The Miami District Office's jurisdiction includes Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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.