Case: EEOC v. Sara Lee Knit Products, Inc.

1:00-cv-00088 | U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina

Filed Date: April 24, 2000

Closed Date: Dec. 11, 2000

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Case Summary

The Washington and Raleigh offices of the EEOC brought this suit against Sara Lee Corporation in April 2000 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The complaint alleged racial discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In May 2000, the defendant filed a motion to consolidate this case with 1:99-cv-00086 (W.D.N.C. 1999). The motion was granted in June 2000, and the parties engaged in mediation in October 2000. The parties settled, and a consent decree was entered in December 2000. The two-year consent decree required the defendant to hold annual Title VII training for all employees; post notice of Title VII rights; refrain from discrimination and retaliation; expunge the charging party's employment record; and send semiannual reports to the EEOC on allegations of discrimination. The charging party was awarded monetary relief in another agreement, which is not available.

Summary Authors

Justin Kanter (8/6/2008)

People

For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/13910456/parties/eeoc-v-sara-lee-corporation/

Judge(s)

Cogburn, Max Oliver (North Carolina)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Sumter, Geraldine (North Carolina)

Attorney for Defendant

Loftis, William Randolph (North Carolina)

Piekarski, Virginia A. (North Carolina)

Judge(s)

Cogburn, Max Oliver (North Carolina)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Sumter, Geraldine (North Carolina)

Attorney for Defendant

Loftis, William Randolph (North Carolina)

Piekarski, Virginia A. (North Carolina)

Attorney Contact Information via CourtListener

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
1:00-cv-00088	Docket (PACER) EEOC v. Sara Lee Corporation	Dec. 11, 2000	Dec. 11, 2000 Docket
1 1:00-cv-00088	Complaint Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sara Lee Knit Products, Inc.	April 24, 2000	April 24, 2000 Complaint
1:00-cv-00088	EEOC Files Discrimination Suit Against Sara Lee Knit Products, Inc. EEOC v. Sara Lee Corporation No Court	April 25, 2000	April 25, 2000 Press Release
13 1:00-cv-00088	Consent Decree Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sara Lee Corporation	Dec. 11, 2000	Dec. 11, 2000 Settlement Agreement
	Student Memo on Consolidation No Court		None Other

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Resources

Title	Description		External URL Date / External URL
Under the Radar: Visibility and the Effects of Discrimination Lawsuits in Small and Large Firms Carly Knight, Frank Dobbin, Alexandra Kalev	Research on how discrimination lawsuits affect corporate diversity has yielded mixed results. Qualitative studies highlight the limited efficacy of lawsuits in the typical workplace, finding that lit…	March 2022	April 1, 2022 https://cris.tau.ac.il/...

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Docket

See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/13910456/eeoc-v-sara-lee-corporation/

Last updated Nov. 4, 2025, 3:12 p.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	COMPLAINT Filing Fee $ 150.00 Receipt # 86810 (jhg) (Entered: 05/12/1999)	May 7, 1999	May 7, 1999 Clearinghouse
	SUMMONS(ES) issued for Sara Lee Corporation (jhg) (Entered: 05/12/1999)	May 7, 1999	May 7, 1999
	Consent to Trial by Magistrate Form mailed by Clerk to counsel of record (jhg) (Entered: 05/12/1999)	May 12, 1999	May 12, 1999
2	CONSENT/REFUSAL to Magistrate Jurisdiction by Jeffrey Hemphill - consent (jhg) (Entered: 06/04/1999)	June 3, 1999	June 3, 1999
3	ANSWER to Complaint by Sara Lee Corporation (Attorney W. R. Loftis Jr., Virginia A. Piekarski), (pdf) (Entered: 06/08/1999)	June 7, 1999	June 7, 1999
4	CONSENT/REFUSAL to Magistrate Jurisdiction by Sara Lee Corporation - consent (jhg) (Entered: 06/21/1999)	June 21, 1999	June 21, 1999
	CASE reassigned to Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. (jhg) (Entered: 06/21/1999)	June 21, 1999	June 21, 1999
	CASE NO LONGER REFERRED TO Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr.; Case transferred to Magistrate Cogburng. (jhg) (Entered: 06/21/1999)	June 21, 1999	June 21, 1999
5	Certificate of I.A.C. by plaintiff Jeffrey Hemphill, defendant Sara Lee Corporation (jhg) (Entered: 07/02/1999)	July 2, 1999	July 2, 1999
	NOTICE of Hearing: set for IPC at 7/27/99 (jhg) (Entered: 07/02/1999)	July 2, 1999	July 2, 1999
6	PROTECTIVE ORDER ( signed by Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ) [EOD DATE: 7/9/99] (pdf) (Entered: 07/09/1999)	July 9, 1999	July 9, 1999
	Case file sent to Judge Cogburn's office (jhg) (Entered: 07/26/1999)	July 26, 1999	July 26, 1999
	Case file returned to clerk's office (jhg) (Entered: 07/28/1999)	July 28, 1999	July 28, 1999
7	INITIAL PRETRIAL ORDER Discovery deadline is 4/1/00 Motion filing deadline is 5/1/00 Mediation due: 4/1/00 Jury Trial set for 7/5/00 ETT: 3-5 days ( signed by Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ) (jhg) (Entered: 07/28/1999)	July 28, 1999	July 28, 1999
8	MOTION by Sara Lee Corporation to Compel Discovery (jhg) (Entered: 01/18/2000)	Jan. 18, 2000	Jan. 18, 2000
9	MEMORANDUM by Sara Lee Corporation in support of [8-1] motion to Compel Discovery by Sara Lee Corporation (jhg) (Entered: 01/18/2000)	Jan. 18, 2000	Jan. 18, 2000
10	RESPONSE by Jeffrey Hemphill to [8-1] motion to Compel Discovery by Sara Lee Corporation (jhg) (Entered: 02/01/2000)	Jan. 31, 2000	Jan. 31, 2000
	Case file sent to Judge Cogburn's office (jhg) (Entered: 02/01/2000)	Feb. 1, 2000	Feb. 1, 2000
	Case file returned to clerk's office (jhg) (Entered: 02/22/2000)	Feb. 18, 2000	Feb. 18, 2000
11	ORDER denying pltf's Motion to Compel Discovery ( signed by Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ) [EOD DATE: 2/22/00] (jhg) (Entered: 02/22/2000)	Feb. 18, 2000	Feb. 18, 2000
12	AMENDED ORDER denying [8-1] motion to Compel Discovery ( signed by Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ) [EOD DATE: 2/28/00] (jhg) (Entered: 02/28/2000)	Feb. 25, 2000	Feb. 25, 2000
14	ORDER granting [13-1] motion to Extend Time to complete discovery, reset Discovery deadline to 6/1/00 , reset Motion Filing deadline to 7/1/00 , and reset Jury Trial for 9/1/00 before Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ( signed by Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ) [EOD DATE: 3/3/00] (jhg) (Entered: 03/03/2000)	March 2, 2000	March 2, 2000
15	NOTICE of Motion by Sara Lee Corporation (jhg) (Entered: 05/04/2000)	May 4, 2000	May 4, 2000
	Case file sent to Judge Cogburn's office (jhg) (Entered: 05/18/2000)	May 18, 2000	May 18, 2000
16	MOTION by Jeffrey Hemphill to Extend Time , and reset Motion Filing deadline referred to: Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. (jhg) (Entered: 06/02/2000)	May 31, 2000	May 31, 2000
	Case file returned to clerk's office (jhg) (Entered: 06/08/2000)	June 8, 2000	June 8, 2000
17	ORDER granting deft's motion to Consolidate Actions 1:99cv86 and 1:00cv88; denying [16-1] motion to Extend Time, denying [16-2] motion reset Motion Filing deadline, and reset for IPC at 6/21/00 before Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ( signed by Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ) [EOD DATE: 6/8/00] (jhg) (Entered: 06/08/2000)	June 8, 2000	June 8, 2000
	Consolidated Lead Case (jhg) (Entered: 06/09/2000)	June 8, 2000	June 8, 2000
	NOTICE of Hearing: reset for IPC at 2:00 6/19/00 before Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. (jhg) (Entered: 06/12/2000)	June 12, 2000	June 12, 2000
	Case file sent to Judge Cogburn's office (jhg) (Entered: 06/12/2000)	June 12, 2000	June 12, 2000
	Case file returned to clerk's office (jhg) (Entered: 06/23/2000)	June 22, 2000	June 22, 2000
18	INITIAL PRETRIAL ORDER IPC held 2:00 6/19/00 Discovery deadline is 9/29/00 Motion filing deadline is 10/30/00 Mediation due: 9/29/00 Jury Trial set for 3/6/01 before Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ETT: 3-4 days ( signed by Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ) (jhg) (Entered: 06/23/2000)	June 22, 2000	June 22, 2000
19	Certificate of completion of ADR session Session Type: mediation, Result: settled - Terminated (pdf) (Entered: 10/31/2000)	Oct. 25, 2000	Oct. 25, 2000
20	STIPULATION of dismissal ( Judgment Vol.: 82 Page: 2) (jhg) (Entered: 11/21/2000)	Nov. 20, 2000	Nov. 20, 2000
	Case closed (jhg) (Entered: 11/21/2000)	Nov. 20, 2000	Nov. 20, 2000
21	CONSENT DECREE by defendant Sara Lee Corporation (Magistrate Max O. Cogburn, Jr.) Judgment Volume 82 Page 28 (jhg) (Entered: 12/12/2000)	Dec. 11, 2000	Dec. 11, 2000