ATLANTA — Moon N Sea GA, LLC formerly known as KGI Trading GA, Inc., and related business partners, operating in three states as KGI Trading, agreed to pay $265,000 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sex discrimination lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, since July 2022 a class of at least 19 women applied for warehouse associate positions in KGI Trading’s Buford, Georgia facility, but were passed over because they were female. During the application process, female applicants were told the company preferred hiring men for the warehouse positions because men could lift more weight than women. Despite being fully qualified, female applicants were denied the positions in favor of less qualified male applicants, the EEOC said.

“This lawsuit is a reminder that employers violate discrimination laws when they fail to hire qualified applicants on the basis of sex,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District. “Qualified female applicants should never be precluded from jobs and industries involving manual labor because of their sex.”

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Moon N Sea GA, LLC, et. al., Case No. 1:25-cv-05455-TRJ-CMS) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

EEOC Atlanta District Director Darrell Graham said, “We commend KGI for agreeing to implement safeguards to prevent future discrimination on the basis of sex. Ensuring that workplaces are free from sex discrimination remains a top priority for the EEOC.”

In addition to the $265,000 in monetary relief, the two-year consent decree settling the suit requires KGI Trading to provide its employees with specialized training on Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination; report compliance to the EEOC; and post a notice in the workplace informing employees of the settlement and their rights under federal anti-discrimination law.

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

The EEOC’s Atlanta District Office is responsible for addressing discrimination charges and conducting agency litigation in the State of Georgia and the State of South Carolina Counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper, and Williamsburg.

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.