text: Source: Bill Estep, Lexington Herald-Leader
  The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a class litigation settlement under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for one half million dollars and significant remedial relief in a case against Fire Mountain Restaurants LLC, doing business as Ryan's Family Steakhouse (Ryan's).
  McDonald's Settles After Discrimination Allegations
  Source: WLKY - Louisville, WLKY - Louisville
  Thirty McDonald's restaurants will soon receive diversity training after two men filed a complaint saying a restaurant employee made several anti-gay slurs toward them last summer.
  Source: Kay Stewart, Courier-Journal
  Betty Younis claimed she spent the last 11 weeks at her job for the Transportation Security Administration assigned to an isolated office with nothing to do and was fired because she filed a sexual discrimination complaint. Yesterday, a federal jury decided that the agency should pay Younis $1.15 million for retaliating against her for filing the complaint and for causing her emotional distress. But the jury rejected her sexual discrimination claim. The jury's award includes $500,000 in lost pay and $650,000 for emotional distress, although that amount is expected to be reduced to $300,000 because of a legal cap. Because the award was for a civil-rights violation, the agency will have to pay Younis' legal fees in addition to the jury's award.
  Source: Jason Riley, Courier-Journal
  A Louisville man who worked at a local Wal-Mart has sued the company, claiming he was sexually harassed by a female co-worker and then fired when he complained. In his lawsuit, David Brown claims he repeatedly told his supervisors about the allegedly "offensive and obnoxious conduct" by the woman, but instead was retaliated against and fired because Wal-Mart did not want to deal with the problem. Sexual harassment lawsuits filed by men are much less frequent than those by woman, but are increasing, according to statistics from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
  Muslim man accuses airport contractor of job discrimination
  A Muslim man claims in a federal lawsuit that an Atlanta-based contractor at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport denied him a security job based on his religion and national origin. Ahmed Mohamed filed the discrimination suit in U.S. District Court in Covington against Air Serv Corp., an Atlanta-based contractor to Delta Air Lines. Mohamed, a native of Mauritania, said he initially filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after he applied for a security job checking airline cabins but was offered a janitorial position instead.
  Setting Aside of Bias Award Upheld
  Source: Jessie Halladay, Louisville Courier-Journal
  The Kentucky Court of Appeals has ruled that a Jefferson County circuit judge was correct in setting aside a 2001 jury award of $762,000 for a sheriff's deputy who alleged that he had been discriminated against and demoted because he is African American. In the decision released by the Appeals Court last week, the justices ruled that Deputy Steve Yancey had failed to prove during the trial that he had been subjected to a hostile work environment or had been demoted because of his race by then-Sheriff James Vaughn. Yancey filed suit against the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department in 1996. It stemmed in part from a 1994 incident when Yancey, then a lieutenant, was demoted to deputy after a verbal altercation with a Louisville police officer outside a bar. Yancey also alleged that under Vaughn's direction at the sheriff's department, the work environment was hostile to African Americans because racial slurs were used openly.
  Source: Associated Press, Star Telegram
  A northern Kentucky company must pay $30,000 and set up new procedures to deal with racial harassment complaints as part of a lawsuit settlement with a federal agency. Newport-based G.E. Capital Information Technology Solutions reached the agreement Wednesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency said in written statement. The EEOC handled the lawsuit on behalf of three black, female employees of the company.
  Two Former Workers Win Suit Against State Lottery
  Source: Associated Press, Courier Journal News
  A Jefferson Circuit Court jury has awarded $2.8 million to two former Kentucky Lottery employees who claimed they endured racial discrimination on the job. Penny Diamond, the plaintiffs' attorney, said Ursella Riles and James Maddox claimed they were excluded from meetings and subjected to racial harassment while working in the lottery's marketing department. The jury returned the verdict Monday night after a two-week trial. Maddox was awarded $1.5million and Riles $1.3million.
  Woman Alleging Discrimination Loses on Appeal
  Source: Bruce Shreiner (AP), Louisville Courier Journal
  A divided Kentucky Supreme Court yesterday upheld a verdict against a woman who claimed that discrimination cost her a manager's job with the public housing authority in Lexington. But in the same case, the justices reversed a Court of Appeals ruling supporting a verdict against the woman on claims that her employer retaliated after she filed the complaint. The case, dating to 1987, pitted Sandra C. Brooks against the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Housing Authority. Brooks, who is African American, interviewed for a job as assistant housing manager. A lower-paying clerk's job also was available. Brooks agreed to be considered for both jobs but preferred the manager's job. She eventually was offered the clerk's job, which she accepted.
  Ex-Jefferson Principal Sues Over His Demotion
  Source: Chris Kenning, Courier Journal [Kentucky]
  A former Jefferson County Public Schools principal sued the district yesterday, saying he was the victim of reverse race discrimination during a 2001 demotion. Mark Hartman, who is white, was removed as principal of Lincoln Elementary two years ago because of the school's poor performance, according to the lawsuit filed in Jefferson Circuit Court. The lawsuit alleges that some black principals, whose schools also were underachieving, were not reassigned or removed.
  Lawsuit Charges Arab Bias
  Source: Jeanne Houck, The Kentucky Post
  A federal judge will hold a status hearing Nov. 4 in a lawsuit filed by two Arab-American Muslims against an Alexandria car dealership, saying they were fired after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because of their race and religion. Arif and Rana Safi, who are brother and sister, said in a lawsuit filed last year in U.S. District Court in Covington that they also were humiliated by their former superiors at Kerry Chevrolet in Alexandria, one of whom told them "if Bin Laden shaves his beard, they will never catch him because you all look alike.''
  Federal Judge Upholds Jury's $510,000 Discrimination Award
  Source: James Malone, Louisville Courier Journal (KY)
  A federal judge has upheld a jury's $510,000 award to a Graves County man who said he was twice denied jobs at the West Kentucky Telephone Rural Cooperative because of his race. "The evidence of discrimination in this case was not extremely strong, but it was adequate to support the verdict," U.S. District Judge Edward Johnstone wrote in a ruling released Monday. The ruling had the effect of dismissing the telephone co-op's motion to stay an enforcement order requiring it to pay the award. But the judge urged both sides to conduct settlement talks aimed at avoiding an appeal and stayed enforcement until July 25, or when settlement talks are concluded.