In September of 1997, Home Depot announced that a Federal District Judge in New Orleans had approved a settlement in a massive gender discrimination lawsuit against Home Depot, in which the retailer spent $104 million to end the case. At the time, the federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) said that “Home Depot has a glass ceiling. It traps its female employees in what amounts to a glass basement, with glass walls. In too many instances, women at Home Depot were hired only for jobs such as cashier’s positions — but not others.” Again in January of 2000, another discrimination suit was filed in Southfield, Michigan by 12 women seeking $1.12 billion for racial discrimination. Now, the EEOC is suing Home Depot again, this time on behalf of a Texas woman named Patty Nichols, who claims that she was denied an advancement despite many “glowing performance evaluations.” According to the National Home Center News, the lawsuit also alleges that Home Depot retaliated against Nichols by lowering her performance evaluations. Nichols is seeking an injunction against Home Depot to prevent the company from engaging in employment discrimination. An attorney for the EEOC was quoted as saying “you look at guys that were promoted and they were less qualified.” Home Depot released a statement that said “Home Depot does not tolerate discrimination in any form and believes that the allegations lack merit. Home Depot shares the EEOC’s interest in an environment free of discrimination, and we look forward to working with the EEOC in resolving this complaint.” Meanwhile, the EEOC is looking forward to speaking with as many as 15 other women who have similar sex discrimination cases against the giant retailer.
You can search Home Depot high and low, but unless you know what you’re looking for, you won’t find the “glass basement” department anywhere. But according to these female Home Depot ‘associates’, the glass walls are up everywhere. For more details about previous Home Depot discrimination lawsuits, see the book Slam-Dunking Wal-Mart.
