PRESS RELEASE
8-19-09

Female Applicants Were Only Hired as Cashiers, Rejected for Other Jobs, Federal Agency Charges

NEW YORK – The U.S. Equal Employment Oppor­tunity Commission (EEOC) today charged that three supermarkets in Queens hired women only as cashiers and refused to consider them for other positions, in violation of federal law. The supermarkets are Dynasty VI Food Corp. in Ridgewood, Dynasty Meat Corp. in Sunnyside and 50-18 Meat Corp. in Woodside. Each does business as a Key Food or Food Dynasty Super­market. They are all owned and operated by Ahmad Zahriyeh and Mufeed Siad and are managed out of the Woodside location, according to the suit.

The EEOC’s lawsuit, EEOC v. Dynasty VI Meat Corp., d/b/a/ Key Foods Supermarket, et al., CV-09-3584, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York today, asserted that since at least Jan. 1, 2006, Food Dynasty would only hire women for cashier’s positions and refused to hire women for other open positions. The EEOC asserts that in April 2006, when Nataliya Goines applied for a position as a cashier and/or stocker, she was told that Food Dynasty only hired women as cashiers and there were no cashier positions available. She was not hired. An EEOC investigation confirmed that all three markets maintained the same discriminatory policies. The EEOC also charged that Food Dynasty routinely destroyed employment applications in violation of federal law.

Sex discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement. The agency seeks back pay for the discrimin­ation victims along with compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief.

“Employers must recognize that stereotypical assumptions about male and female roles in the workplace are discriminatory,” said EEOC New York District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr.

EEOC Senior Trial Attorney Michael J. O’Brien added, “Very often, a supermarket job represents a person’s entry into the workplace, and access should be without regard to gender.”

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the agency is available at www.eeoc.gov.