BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabama recycler TCI of Alabama, LLC, will pay $2.6 million and provide other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC’s suit charged that TCI intentionally violated federal law by engaging in a long-standing pattern of refusing to hire female laborers at its Pell City, Alabama recycling plant, potentially impacting thousands of women. According to the complaint, starting in 2006 when the company purchased the plant, through late 2022, the company intentionally hired only men for laborer positions and converted showers and locker rooms to male-only facilities. When TCI began outsourcing its labor staffing to third-party agencies, it directed them to refer only male applicants even when qualified female candidates were available.

The lawsuit also alleged that TCI’s discriminatory practices continued even after the EEOC investigated a whistleblower complaint made by a long-tenured employee whom TCI terminated for telling the truth about its hiring practice. The EEOC previously settled the whistleblower’s retaliation case for $90,000.

“Employers cannot evade Title VII by outsourcing their hiring and directing staffing agencies to carry out their discriminatory preferences based on sex,” said Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham District. “The EEOC will aggressively pursue staffing agencies who comply with unlawful requests under federal law and employers who refuse to hire qualified females.”

This alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits denying qualified individuals employment based on their sex. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. TCI of Alabama, LLC, Case No. 4:25-cv-00089-CLM) in U.S. District Court after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Acting EEOC Birmingham District Director Linda Sales-Long said, “Federal law prohibits employers from refusing to hire qualified individuals because of their sex, regardless of any sex-specific preference its owners or managers may hold. The EEOC is committed to enforcing Title VII to provide equal employment opportunities for all.”

Under the three-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit, TCI will pay $2.6 million in monetary damages to compensate women who were denied employment. TCI will also hire a Title VII coordinator; provide mandatory anti-discrimination training to its managers and employees; notify all staffing agencies it works with not to comply with any discriminatory requests; and post a notice to employees about the settlement and how to report any future discrimination.

Details for the claims administration process will be announced at a later date.

In addition to resolving two lawsuits against TCI regarding its decades-long discriminatory practice, the EEOC recently reached settlements with two staffing agencies that illegally complied with TCI’s discriminatory preference for male laborers. The EEOC entered into a consent decree with WorkSmart, Inc. for $150,000 and resolved another charge of discrimination in a public conciliation agreement for $155,000 with Personnel Staffing, Inc.

For more information on sex-based discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination.

The EEOC’s Birmingham District has jurisdiction over Alabama, Mississippi (except 17 northern counties) and the Florida Panhandle.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.