Case: EEOC v. ZENITH INSURANCE COMPANY

2:05-cv-07134 | U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Filed Date: Sept. 30, 2005

Closed Date: 2009

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Case Summary

EEOC's Los Angeles, CA office filed this Title VII lawsuit against the defendant, Zenith Insurance Co., a property insurer that conducts business throughout the U.S.. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California (Los Angeles) on 09/30/2005. EEOC alleged that the defendant failed to hire charging party and other black applicants into mailroom positions at its Woodland Hills, California office because of their race. Defendant advertised for a mailroom clerk in September 2001, listing 6 months of mailroom experience as the minimum requirement. Charging party, who had the requisite experience and a degree in graphic arts, applied and was rejected. Defendant readvertised the position in November 2001 and hired a white applicant with no mailroom experience. Defendant rejected a number of other qualified black applicants for mailroom positions, while hiring white candidates. The parties settled three months into the lawsuit and the court entered a consent decree on 01/13/2006.

The parties resolved the case through a 3-year consent decree providing $180,000 in compensatory damages to be distributed to charging party and other claimants at EEOC's discretion. The decree requires defendant to make good faith efforts to obtain a hiring rate of at least 18.3% African Americans in clerical positions at the Woodland Hills facility for each year of the decree. Defendant will report semiannually on its recruitment and hiring efforts, and annually on applicants and hires, by race, for the preceding 6-month period. The docket sheet does not show any further enforcement; the case was presumably closed in 2009.

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Summary Authors

Justin Kanter (7/4/2007)

Clearinghouse (6/7/2017)

Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
2:05-cv-07134	Docket EEOC v. Zenith Insurance Company	Jan. 13, 2006	Jan. 13, 2006 Docket
12 2:05-cv-07134	Consent Decree; Order EEOC v. Zenith Insurance Company	Jan. 13, 2006	Jan. 13, 2006 Settlement Agreement
2:05-cv-07134	EEOC Litigation Settlement Report EEOC v. Zenith Insurance Company No Court	Jan. 24, 2006	Jan. 24, 2006 Press Release

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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

Last updated March 27, 2025, 8:04 a.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	COMPLAINT against defendant Zenith Insurance Company.(No fee required) Jury Demanded. , filed by plaintiff US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (rrey, ) (Entered: 10/04/2005)	Sept. 30, 2005	Sept. 30, 2005
	20 Day Summons Issued re Complaint - (Discovery)[1] as to Zenith Insurance Company. (rrey, ) (Entered: 10/04/2005)	Sept. 30, 2005	Sept. 30, 2005
2	CERTIFICATION AS TO Interested Parties filed by Plaintiff US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (rrey, ) (Entered: 10/04/2005)	Sept. 30, 2005	Sept. 30, 2005
4	NOTICE TO PARTIES OF ADR PILOT PROGRAM filed.(rrey, ) (Entered: 10/04/2005)	Sept. 30, 2005	Sept. 30, 2005
	FAX number for Attorney Peter F Laura, Anna Y Park, Cherry-Marie D Rojas is 213-894-1301. (rrey, ) (Entered: 10/04/2005)	Sept. 30, 2005	Sept. 30, 2005
3	STANDING ORDER: That all counsel are ordered to familiarize themselves with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Local Rules of the Central District of California (See document for further details) by Judge Percy Anderson(ir, ) (Entered: 10/04/2005)	Oct. 3, 2005	Oct. 3, 2005
5	WAIVER OF SERVICE of Summons Returned Executed filed by Plaintiff US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. upon Zenith Insurance Company waiver sent by Plaintiff on 10/7/2005, answer due 12/6/2005. Waiver of Service signed by Wendy A Wolf, Attorney for Defendant Zenith Insurance Company (dw, ) (Entered: 11/17/2005)	Nov. 14, 2005	Nov. 14, 2005
6	JOINT STIPULATION AND ORDER by Judge Percy Anderson: to extend time to file responsive pleading to Complaint - (Discovery)[1] to file responsive pleading from December 6, 2005 to December 23, 2005. (shb, ) (Entered: 12/08/2005)	Dec. 7, 2005	Dec. 7, 2005
7	NOTICE of Change of Attorney Information: Attorney Cherry-Marie D Rojas will no longer receive service of documents from the Clerks Office for the reason indicated in the G-06 Notice. Filed by Plaintiff US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (yl, ) (Entered: 12/13/2005)	Dec. 8, 2005	Dec. 8, 2005
8	NOTICE of Settlement filed by Plaintiff US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.Settlement papers due by 1/21/2006. (dw, ) (Entered: 12/21/2005)	Dec. 20, 2005	Dec. 20, 2005
9	MINUTES OF IN CHAMBERS ORDER by Judge Percy Anderson: Parties have 10 days from the date of this order or until the next scheduled court appearance whichever is shorter to file with the court a dismissal of the action or to appear in person or telephonically with their clients to place the settlement on the record. (See document for further information)Court Reporter: Not Reported. (dw, ) (Entered: 12/29/2005)	Dec. 29, 2005	Dec. 29, 2005
11	ORDER by Judge Percy Anderson,of dismissal. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this action is hereby dismissed without costs and without prejudice to the right upon good cause shown within 14 days to re-open the action if settlement is not consummated. This court retains full jurisdiction over this action for the fourteen days period and this order shall not prejudice any party to this action. (Made JS-6. Case Terminated.)(yc, ) (Entered: 01/23/2006)	Jan. 6, 2006	Jan. 6, 2006
10	MINUTES OF Status Conference held before Judge Percy Anderson: The parties place the settlement on the record.Court Reporter: Jennifer Cheshire. (dw, ) (Entered: 01/13/2006)	Jan. 9, 2006	Jan. 9, 2006
12	CONSENT DECREE; ORDER by Judge Percy Anderson: The provision of the foregoing Consent Decree are hereby approved and compliance with all provision thereof is HEREBY ORDERED. (dw, ) (Entered: 01/24/2006)	Jan. 13, 2006	Jan. 13, 2006 Clearinghouse