Beverage Distributor to Pay $950K to settle National Origin and Race Discrimination Charges

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reached a settlement in which Breakthru Beverage Illinois, LLC (BBI) agreed to pay $950,000 to resolve an investigation conducted by the EEOC which found reasonable cause to believe that BBI discriminated against sales employees in the state by offering them account and territory assignments that, when accepted, resulted in national origin or race discrimination. While not much specific information was provided as part of the settlement, of note EEOC Chicago District Director Julianne Bowman stated: "We are pleased that BBI has agreed to monitor the demographics of its Illinois sales force to ensure all employees continue to have equal opportunities to service the accounts and work in the territories of their choice, based on their skills and abilities, and not their race or national origin."