CRST Mulls Next Step in EEOC Litigation
“We’re still considering our options,” Eric Baker, CRST’s general counsel, said in response to the Dec. 22 opinion from a three-judge panel of the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling remanded the penalty phase of the case to the U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The trial court said EEOC should pay the carrier nearly $4.7 million in attorneys’ fees and other court costs related to allegations that CRST Van Expedited created a hostile work environment for women.
However, the appellate ruling placed substantial limitations on the trial court’s authority to shift fees.
Baker said this is the last segment of litigation still active from a lawsuit filed in 2007. The company would like the case concluded, but it also would like to collect the reimbursement for fees.
Even more important, though, is the Cedar Rapids-based company’s reputation, said Baker.
“The defining piece of the case is that CRST didn’t do anything wrong,” Baker said.
EEOC general counsel David Lopez said in a press release that the agency views the appellate decision “as a favorable one,” and that the court’s analysis “reinforces long-standing principles of law.”
As to the claims by plaintiffs and the agency, EEOC said there was an out-of-court settlement after the trial court dismissed many of the claims.
CRST’s Baker said he expects that sometime in January the trial court will “reach out to us” to schedule a conference of the two sides to figure out what happens next.
