A $3.2 million settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission challenging CSX Transportation Inc.’s practice of using physical testing that allegedly discriminates against female job applicants.
On Monday, the parties signed a consent decree in West Virginia federal court and informed the judge that they had agreed to settle the EEOC lawsuit to avoid the delay, cost and risk of ongoing litigation.
CSX Transportation, a rail freight company, allegedly discriminates against female job applicants by using the IPCS Biodex test to assess their job fitness. This test measures muscle strength and aerobic fitness.
According to the CSX Transportation class action lawsuit, female applicants pass the IPCS test at “significantly lower rates” than male applicants, and results in women being disqualified from the job. In some cases, women who do not pass the physical test are disqualified after they have already been offered a position with the company.
The EEOC alleges the physical tests have an adverse impact on female job seekers who applied for more than three dozen types of jobs within CSX Transportation and violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
CSX Transportation allegedly used two different strength standards to evaluate applicants who applied for certain jobs. According to the EEOC class action lawsuit, 87 percent of males passed the more strenuous test, while only 30 percent of women passed the test. About 94 percent of men passed the less strenuous test, while only 47 percent of women passed the test.
In addition to the strength tests, CSX also used a three-minute step test to measure how quickly the person’s heart rate returns to normal after exercise. The EEOC claims this test also had a discriminatory effect on female applicants because only 63 percent of women passed the test while 87 percent of men passed.
The EEOC filed its sex discrimination class action lawsuit on behalf of females who were candidates for a position with CSX Transportation at any time since May 19, 2009 and who failed to attain a passing score on the physical abilities tests that were required for the position.
According to the consent decree, CSX Transportation will have 30 days to discontinue the use of the challenged tests. The company must also submit a report to the EEOC confirming that it has discontinued the tests. CSX Transportation will also be required to prove the necessity of fitness testing before implementing any new tests in the future.
The consent decree also requires CSX Transportation to hire female applicants if they are qualified for the job and no other applicant is better qualified for the position.
CSX Transportation will pay $3.2 million to applicants the EEOC has determined are eligible for front pay or back pay.
Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.
The EEOC is represented by James L. Lee, Gwendolyn Young Reams, Debra M. Lawrence, Ronald L. Phillips, Lisa H. Hernandez and Catherine N. Sellers.
The CSX Transportation Sex Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. CSX Transportation Inc., Case No. 3:17-cv-03731, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Huntington Division.
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46 thoughts onCSX Will Pay $3.2M to Settle Sex Discrimination Class Action
I haven’t received it yet
If you email them or call they can tell you if it has been mailed yet.
Email or call who? Martha Foster at EEOC has not responded to my recent emails.
Did anyone receive their check today?
No check so far today maybe Tuesday.
Wondering the same.
Joni did you get a response or speak to anyone? Did you get a date?
Martha Foster. Last I talked with her they would be maiped out the 2nd or 3rd week of may.
Just got an email from Foster at EEOC saying this week or next week. The timeline keeps changing…smh. I asked for a contact at the settlement administrator since she doesn’t know definitively. Waiting to hear back.
She just said I can’t contact the settlement administrator and that she’s only giving out the info she’s given.
The letter I received from the settlement team said it would be mailed sometime in May. I figure if I don’t see it by June 1, then I will start asking questions. I have seen some reviews on the company that issues people checks that are dated from 2 years ago and they can’t cash them, then getting a new check is almost impossible. I hope that is not the case for all of us.
Received email today checks will be sent out today May 22 and will be sent UPS via over night delivery.
Did anyone get their check through the overnight? I haven’t seen it yet.
No…still waiting
Still waiting, will everyone please let us know when you receive them?
Check came today
My check came today. 22% withheld for federal income tax. Does anyone know the average settlement amount received by individuals?
I think the average should be around 22 – 24 thousand but they taxed the shit out of it. Government took 1/3 of it.
Received mine today
Got mine today. Almost 10k gone to taxes!!! That can’t be right if it’s supposed to be treated as regular income. It was taxed like lottery winnings.
Does anyone know why they took Tier 2 from us? Can we recoup that money if we do not work for the railroad
Has anyone heard anymore information?
I got an email today that said I’ll be receiving a letter within a week with my award. Gonna have to send some documents back to them that they are requesting although I have no idea what those documents could be.
Did you ever send in copies of your tax returns?
No I’ve never received any requests for documents before. This will be the first letter I’ve ever received besides the initial communication regarding the claim asking if I wanted to participate.
Thank you…… I sent my tax returns, that is why I am asking. I am wondering how they could determine our awards without seeing what we made for money, for back pay.
Any new information?
I talked to Foster on 4/6/20 and she said that checks would be mailed hopefully by the end of April or the first couple weeks of May. She was working from home because of COVID-19.
Sorry so many questions but who was the email from
The email was from Martha Foster at EEOC
I haven’t heard that from them yet
Heard from EEOC today asking that I verify my address no later than March 16th. I’m hoping this means they are about to mail out checks. I was denied employment by CSX in 2011 for failing that test. Just curious as to what they consider being “made whole”.
I don’ believe that you will be issued a check until you receive a release from either the EEOC or KCC. Once we sign the release I believe that we will be issued checks unless the Court has to give final approval. Being made whole means that they will try to compensate us for what we lost in wages etc. by not being hired by CSX. They have a formula that they will use to determine what individual amounts should be and then it will most likely not be the full amount but a percentage. Does that help? Does anyone else have any other information?
I definitely wasn’t expecting to recoup all the wage and benefits I lost because that would be six figures. I’ll be satisfied with whatever I get.
I have to reread the settlement ruling to see what happens now.
There IS an awful lot of “run around” going on that’s for sure. It takes weeks to get an answer to emails and I am yet to ever get a call back. A little sick of the nonsense. Just want straight answers.
I am not surprised to hear that they are just figuring out he awards. If we were really in the claims administration phase like they told me the awards would already have been figured out. Now I know that wasn’t entirely true. I feel like they don’t want to tell anyone the facts. I have asked many questions and always get the same story. Does anyone know if we will have to wait for final approval from the judge.
Over a year ago we were told that we would hear from the Claims Administrator, “soon”. I was also told by the EEOC that we were in the Claims Administration phase many months ago. I wonder why it has been so hard to get a straight answer. It was also noted in the Consent Decree that claimants were to be paid within 60 days of the EEOC submitting payment amounts for the claimants, to the Claims Administrator. I would just appreciate a direct answer……
According to the paralegal for the EEOC attorney they are in the process of figuring out the rewards for the claimants. Not sure how many claimants there are, but I was assured they’d be finished before the June deadline.
I believe that there are over 250 claimants
144 claimants was told to me by EEOC lawyer I got my letter yesterday very low offer not even half of one year salary I lost
We must all be receiving the same amount then. Better than nothing. Checks won’t be mailed until May.
Has anyone received a check yet?
No check yet
I’ve been told the same, but KCC has two years from the settlement date to payout according to the decree and it will be two years in June. I do wonder why they haven’t started contacting people yet though, it’s almost March.
It’ll be two years since that case was settled and some of the claimants haven’t heard anything. Anytime they reach out to the EEOC or the claims processing company KCCllc they receive vague answers.
I’ve been told the same, but KCC has two years from the settlement date to payout according to the decree and it will be two years in June. I do wonder why they haven’t started contacting people yet though, it’s almost March.