Four Seasons Licensed Home Care Agency to Pay $400,000 in EEOC Race and National Origin Discrimination Lawsuit

NEW YORK – ACARE HHC, Inc., doing business as Four Seasons Licensed Home Health Care Agency, a Brooklyn-based company supplying home health aides, will pay $400,000 and furnish other relief to settle a race and national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Four Seasons routinely acceded to patients’ racial preferences when making home health aide assignments, including removal of Black and Hispanic aides. Those aides would be transferred to a new assignment or, if no other assignment were available, lose their employment completely.

Such conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of race and national origin, including in the making of job assignments based on biased client preference.

The EEOC filed suit, (EEOC v. ACARE HHC d/b/a Four Seasons Licensed Home Health Care, 23-cv-5760), in U.S. District Court for Eastern District of New York after first attempting to reach pre-litigation settlements through its conciliation process. This case was litigated by EEOC Trial Attorney Edumin Corrales and Acting Supervisory Trial Attorney Sebastian Riccardi.

The consent decree settling the suit provides $400,000 in monetary relief to a class of home health aides affected by the discriminatory practices, and significant non-monetary relief designed to prevent discrimination with respect to home health aide assignments in the future. These provisions include an injunction prohibiting Four Seasons from making home health aide assignments based on a clients’ race- and/or national origin-based preferences; updates to Four Seasons’ internal policies; mandatory training for management employees about Title VII; and reporting of complaints.

“Employers cannot make job assignment decisions based on a client’s preference for a worker of a particular race or national origin,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Kimberly A. Cruz. “It is imperative for employers to have policies, training, and other safeguards in place that help prevent a client’s prejudices from influencing their employment decisions.”

Yaw Gyebi, Jr., director of the EEOC’s New York District Office, added, “In the 60 years since the enactment of Title VII, the EEOC has remained vigilant and committed to the elimination of discrimination in the workplace, which includes addressing employer practices which accede to client’s discriminatory preferences. The EEOC will continue to investigate allegations against employers who make job assignments based on such improper bases and obtain appropriate relief for those victims who are harmed by such practices.”  

More information about race discrimination can be found at https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination. More information about national origin discrimination can be found at https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination.

The EEOC’s New York District Office is responsible for processing discrimination charges, administrative enforcement and the conduct of agency litigation in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, northern New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.