EEOC Sues Glunt Industries and Merit Capital Partners for Classwide Sex Discrimination in Hiring

CLEVELAND – Glunt Industries, Inc. and Merit Capital Partners IV, LLC violated federal law when they engaged in classwide sex discrimination against women by failing to hire them for production jobs and discriminated against their former human resources director and other female employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to Glunt’s website, Glunt Industries, Inc. is the most complete large-scale fabricating and machining operation in the United States with over 225,000 square feet of production space at multiple plants in northeast Ohio. 

The EEOC charged that Glunt and Merit Capital Partners, which purchased Glunt in 2012, engaged in longstanding classwide sex discrimination when they failed to hire women for production jobs. The companies also discriminated against their HR director and retaliated against her both for her role in hiring women and because she opposed sex discrimination, leading to her separation.  The EEOC alleged that after some women were hired for production jobs during the HR director’s tenure, the companies subjected them to discriminatory treatment by firing some of the female production workers. The agency also charged the companies with failing to make and preserve records as required by federal law, including applications and applicant materials.

Such alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination because of sex and retaliation for complaining about it. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Glunt Industries, Inc., and Merit Capital Partners IV, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-01687-CAB) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

The EEOC seeks monetary relief, including lost wages and compensatory and punitive damages, for the HR director and a class of female job seekers and employees. The suit also seeks permanent injunctive relief prohibiting the companies from engaging in future discrimination on the basis of sex, an order directing the companies to comply with federal recordkeeping requirements, and other relief. 

“Federal law clearly prohibits the exclusion of women from employment opportunities because of sex,” said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the agency’s Philadelphia District Office. “The EEOC is committed to removing discriminatory barriers that women face in the workplace, particularly in the hiring process.”

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

Eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring is one of six national priorities identified by the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP).

The EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. The legal staff of EEOC also prosecutes discrimination cases in Washington, D.C., and parts of Virginia.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.