EEOC alleges hiring bias by Vegas cab company

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003 | 11:09 a.m.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued a Las Vegas taxi company, alleging it refused to hire drivers of Ethiopian descent.

In a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas Wednesday, the EEOC alleged that Sun Cab Co. Inc., which does business in Clark County as Nellis Cab Co., continually shunned three Ethiopian job applicants who answered advertisements for employment as drivers on several occasions between 2000 and 2002.

Greg Gochanour, acting regional attorney for the EEOC's Los Angeles District Office, said Nellis "clearly had a policy or practice of not hiring ethnic Ethiopians."

A representative of Nellis disputed the claims and predicted the company would prevail in court.

"Nellis Cab has never had a policy or practice of refusing to hire anyone on ethnic grounds," said Robert Winner, an attorney for Nellis. "The truth or veracity of these charges is unknown because the EEOC refused to provide any information to us. We are confident that Nellis Cab will be exonerated on all of these allegations by any judge or jury."

According to the suit, Nellis would not hire Hassan Bashir, Bimir Gobana and Negash Dirar, all ethnic Ethiopians, despite their being qualified to work as cab drivers in the Las Vegas area.

The commission, which investigates workplace discrimination claims, filed suit after attempting to reach a settlement with the cab company.

Nellis is, by revenue generated, the fifth largest of 16 cab companies operating in the Clark County market. For the first eight months of 2003, the company served 1.1 million customers, generating revenue of $11.8 million, according to the Taxicab Authority of Nevada.

Nellis has more than 300 drivers and has licenses to operate 109 cabs.