Terminating an Employee for Complaining about Race Discrimination is Illegal

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settled a lawsuit with General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, in which the EEOC claimed that the company fired an employee in retaliation for complaints of race discrimination.  The EEOC’s lawsuit alleges that Ivy Couch complained on multiple occasions to the company’s Human Resources Department that the company had discriminated against her due to her race and also retaliated against her for these complaints.  Global Ministries fired her after she made these complaints.  This alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race discrimination and retaliation.  See EEOC v. General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, No. 1:19-CV-2989 (N.D. Ga.).