Case: EEOC v. United Fence Company & Wor-Mac, Inc.

1:02-cv-06589 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Filed Date: Sept. 16, 2002

Closed Date: Dec. 19, 2003

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Case Summary

In September 2002, the Chicago District Office of the EEOC brought this lawsuit against United Fence Company and Wor-Mar, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleging discrimination on the basis of race, African American, and natural origin, Hispanic, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, the complaint alleged the defendants subjected the complainants, Hispanic employees, to a hostile work environment by reprimanding them for speaking Spanish and subjecting them to disparate treatment, and for failing to take corrective action in response to complaints of disparate treatment on the basis of race, African-American. Following some discovery and several status conferences, the parties settled the lawsuit in December 2003 through a consent decree.

The eighteen-month decree, containing anti-discrimination and retaliation clauses, required the defendants to: report on complaints and make compliance reports to the EEOC, keep records regarding complaints, allow the EEOC access for monitoring, stop preventing employees from speaking Spanish outside of certain circumstances, develop an anti-discrimination policy, post and distribute notice of employee rights, provide EEO training for all persons able to make hiring or disciplinary decisions, and pay $50,000 to be distributed among fourteen complainants.

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Summary Authors

Daisy Manning (1/10/2008)

People

For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4251127/parties/eeoc-v-united-fence-co/

Judge(s)

Darrah, John W. (Illinois)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Attorney for Defendant

Barrish, Jonathan Ethan (Illinois)

Barrish, Kenneth J. (Illinois)

Durkin, Carrie A. (Illinois)

Foley, Erin Dougherty (Illinois)

Judge(s)

Darrah, John W. (Illinois)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Gochanour, Gregory M. (Illinois)

Hendrickson, John C. (Illinois)

Henry, Ann M (Illinois)

Waldron, Gordon G. (Illinois)

Attorney for Defendant

Barrish, Jonathan Ethan (Illinois)

Barrish, Kenneth J. (Illinois)

Durkin, Carrie A. (Illinois)

Foley, Erin Dougherty (Illinois)

Georgis, Jonathan Thomas (Illinois)

Heinle, Michael J (Illinois)

Melfi, Patrick V. (Illinois)

Nightingale, Hope G. (Illinois)

Smyrniotis, George P. (Illinois)

Attorney Contact Information via CourtListener

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
1:02-cv-06589	Docket (PACER) EEOC v. United Fence Co, et al	Dec. 22, 2003	Dec. 22, 2003 Docket
1 1:02-cv-06589	Complaint EEOC v. United Fence Co, et al	Sept. 17, 2002	Sept. 17, 2002 Complaint
2 1:02-cv-06589	Amended Complaint EEOC v. United Fence Co, et al	Oct. 1, 2002	Oct. 1, 2002 Complaint
22 1:02-cv-06589	Consent Decree EEOC v. United Fence Co, et al	Dec. 22, 2003	Dec. 22, 2003 Settlement Agreement

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Resources

Title	Description		External URL Date / External URL
Black Farmers FAQ: The history of discrimination against Black farmers and policy initiatives to remedy these inequities. Legal Defense Fund	Black farmers have long faced systemic discrimination by public and private institutions and barriers to economic mobility. Inequities in the administration of government farm programs and discrimina…		https://www.naacpldf.org/...
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/4251127/eeoc-v-united-fence-co/

Last updated Aug. 19, 2025, 3:47 a.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	COMPLAINT; jury demand - Civil cover sheet - Appearance(s) of Gordon G. Waldron, Ann M. Henry, Gregory M. Gochanour, John C. Hendrickson as attorney(s) for plaintiff (No summons(es) issued.) (Documents: 1-1 through 1-3) (hp) (Entered: 09/17/2002)	Sept. 16, 2002	Sept. 16, 2002 RECAP
	minutes - miscellaneous	Sept. 19, 2002	Sept. 19, 2002 PACER
2	AMENDED COMPLAINT [1-1] by plaintiff; jury demand. (ntf) (Entered: 10/01/2002)	Sept. 30, 2002	Sept. 30, 2002 PACER
	summons issued	Oct. 1, 2002	Oct. 1, 2002 PACER
3	ATTORNEY APPEARANCE for defendants by Patrick V. Melfi, Erin Dougherty Foley, Jonathan Thomas Georgis (cdy) (Entered: 10/02/2002)	Oct. 1, 2002	Oct. 1, 2002 PACER
4	WAIVER of service of summons as to defendants sent on 9/16/02 (cdy) (Entered: 10/02/2002)	Oct. 1, 2002	Oct. 1, 2002 PACER
	minutes - miscellaneous	Nov. 14, 2002	Nov. 14, 2002 PACER
5	ANSWER by defendants to amended complaint [2-1]. (fce) (Entered: 11/15/2002)	Nov. 14, 2002	Nov. 14, 2002 PACER
	minutes - miscellaneous	Jan. 16, 2003	Jan. 16, 2003 PACER
6	MOTION by United Fence Co and Wor-Mar, Inc. to substitute attorney ; Notice. (gcy) (Entered: 05/01/2003)	April 24, 2003	April 24, 2003 PACER
7	MINUTE ORDER of 4/30/03 by Hon. John W. Darrah: Defendant's motion for substitution of attorneys is granted [6-1]. Appearance on behalf of the firm of Connelly Sheehan Moran is withdrawn and the firm of Litchfield Cavo is granted leave to substitute on behalf of defendants. Status hearing is set for 07/01/03 at 9:00 a.m. Status hearing is set for 07/01/03 at 9:00 a.m.. Mailed notice (gcy) (Entered: 05/01/2003)	April 30, 2003	April 30, 2003 PACER
8	ATTORNEY APPEARANCE for defendants United Fence Company and Wor Mar Inc by Hope G. Nightingale, Kenneth J. Barrish, Michael J. Heinle. (cem) (Entered: 05/09/2003)	May 8, 2003	May 8, 2003 PACER
10	MOTION by defendants for an extension of time to file their response to plaintiff's second requests for admissions and third request for production of documents (Attachments) ; Notice (ntf) (Entered: 05/15/2003)	May 8, 2003	May 8, 2003 PACER
9	OPPOSITION by plaintiff EEOC to defendants' motion to extend time to respond to discovery (Attachments); Notice of filing (eav) (Entered: 05/13/2003)	May 12, 2003	May 12, 2003 PACER
11	MOTION by plaintiff to compel deposition of William Heffernan ; Notice (ntf) (Entered: 05/15/2003)	May 12, 2003	May 12, 2003 PACER
12	MINUTE ORDER of 5/14/03 by Hon. John W. Darrah : EEOC's motion to compel deposition of William Heffernan [11-1] is granted. Deposition of William Heffernan to be completed on or before 05/28/03. Defendants, United Fence Company and Wor-Mac, Inc's motion for an extension of time to file their response to plaintiff's second requests for admissions and third for production of documents is granted to and including 06/06/03 [10-1]. Mailed notice (ntf) (Entered: 05/15/2003)	May 14, 2003	May 14, 2003 PACER
	minutes - miscellaneous	July 1, 2003	July 1, 2003 PACER
	minutes - miscellaneous	July 9, 2003	July 9, 2003 PACER
	minutes - miscellaneous	Aug. 13, 2003	Aug. 13, 2003 PACER
13	MOTION by plaintiff to extend discovery closing deadline and to compel deposition of William Heffernan ; Notice. (cem) (Entered: 09/24/2003)	Sept. 16, 2003	Sept. 16, 2003 PACER
14	MOTION by plaintiff to compel production of documents (Attachment); Notice. (cem) (Entered: 09/24/2003)	Sept. 16, 2003	Sept. 16, 2003 PACER
15	MINUTE ORDER of 9/23/03 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing held. Plaintiff's motion to extend discovery closing [13-1] and compel deposition of William Heffernan [13-2] is granted. Discovery extended to 1/15/04. All other previously set dates by the Court to stand. Mailed notice (cem) (Entered: 09/24/2003)	Sept. 23, 2003	Sept. 23, 2003 PACER
16	MOTION by plaintiff for sanctions for failure to produce records related to temporary employees (Attachment); Notice (hp) (Entered: 11/12/2003)	Nov. 5, 2003	Nov. 5, 2003 PACER
17	MINUTE ORDER of 11/10/03 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Plaintiff's motion for sanctions is withdrawn. [16-1] Mailed notice (hp) (Entered: 11/12/2003)	Nov. 10, 2003	Nov. 10, 2003 PACER
19	MOTION by plaintiff to compel depositions of Mildred Hill and Pedro Felix Leyva (Attachment); Notice. (cem) (Entered: 11/21/2003)	Nov. 12, 2003	Nov. 12, 2003 PACER
	minutes - miscellaneous	Nov. 20, 2003	Nov. 20, 2003 PACER
18	REFERRAL ORDER: Case referred to Hon. Morton Denlow for a settlement conference . Mailed notice. (maf) (Entered: 11/20/2003)	Nov. 20, 2003	Nov. 20, 2003 PACER
20	MINUTE ORDER of 11/20/03 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Plaintiff's motion to compel depositions of Mildred Hill and Pedro Felix Leyva is granted [19-1]. Defendant to produce witnesses by 12/19/03. This case is referred to Magistrate Judge Denlow for a settlement conference. Mailed notice (cem) (Entered: 11/21/2003)	Nov. 20, 2003	Nov. 20, 2003 PACER
21	ATTORNEY APPEARANCE for defendants by George P. Smyrniotis, Jonathan Ethan Barrish, Carrie A. Durkin; Notice. (hp) (Entered: 11/24/2003)	Nov. 21, 2003	Nov. 21, 2003 PACER
	minutes - miscellaneous	Dec. 4, 2003	Dec. 4, 2003 PACER
22	MINUTE ORDER of 12/19/03 by Hon. John W. Darrah: For the reasons stated in the attached consent decree by the parties, this decree fully and finally resolves any and all issues and claims arising out of the complaint filed by the EEOC. Case closed. Any pending dates or motions are terminated as moot. (Entered consent decree.) terminating case Mailed notice (rmm) (Entered: 12/22/2003)	Dec. 19, 2003	Dec. 19, 2003 PACER
23	MINUTE ORDER of 12/22/03 by Hon. Morton Denlow: Consent Decree having been entered by Judge Darrah, all matters relating to the referral of this action having been resolved, the case is turned to the assigned judge. Settlement conference set for 01/08/04 at 2:00 p.m. is stricken. Terminating the case referral to the Hon. Morton Denlow. Notices mailed by judge's staff (cdy) (Entered: 12/23/2003)	Dec. 22, 2003	Dec. 22, 2003 PACER