Furniture retailer to pay nearly $1.5M to settle EEOC discrimination suit

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Monday that a St. Petersburg, Florida-based furniture retailer has agreed to pay $1.48 million to resolve a federal class action accusing it of discriminating against women.

The lawsuit, EEOC v. Kane’s Furniture LLC, was filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, in September 2023. It said the retailer refused to hire women for driver and warehouse positions and that its recruiters expressly screened women out of the hiring process.

In addition to the monetary relief that will be awarded to the class of female applicants, Kane’s will implement new hiring practices, hire an independent expert to oversee training and review complaints of sexual discrimination, and submit annual reports of any discrimination complaints to the EEOC, the agency said.

Representatives for the parties did not respond to requests for comment.