Former Vegas Home Depot worker wins bias lawsuit

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003 | 10:48 a.m.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and home-improvement giant Home Depot USA Inc. have settled a race discrimination suit involving one of its Las Vegas-area stores.

Under terms of the agreement, Atlanta-based Home Depot agreed to pay $70,000 in back pay and interest for its failure to promote a black employee to an assistant manager position despite his qualifications. The company also agreed to maintain a policy prohibiting discrimination in the workplace and to provide managers and supervisors with additional equal opportunity training.

The case involves the company's failure to promote Roderick Birdis, who is black and the EEOC proved was qualified for the promotion.

Birdis has since been rehired by Home Depot and assigned as an assistant manager in a store in Jacksonville, Fla. He could not be reached for comment.

The EEOC filed suit against Home Depot in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas in October. The settlement was announced in a release issued jointly by Home Depot and the EEOC last week.

"As the Las Vegas population and work force become more diverse, it is in Home Depot's best interest to provide and maintain equal opportunity for all workers, regardless of race," said Olophius Perry, Los Angeles district director of the EEOC, in the joint statement.

"Home Depot is committed to fair employment practices and we believe that we acted in harmony with that commitment with respect to the plaintiff in this instance," said a portion of the statement attributed to Home Depot. "Nevertheless, we resolved this matter to avoid a protracted conflict with the agency and to focus our resources on our mutual commitment to fair employment practices."

Home Depot has 11 stores in the Las Vegas Valley. The discrimination case arose at the company's store at Lamb and Charleston boulevards.