Prestige Transportation Service, LLC. a Miami company which provides transportation services to airline personnel to and from Miami International Airport, will pay $200,000 to settle a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC.

The EEOC charged in its suit that Prestige's predecessor company, Airbus Alliance, Inc., which was under different ownership, repeatedly instructed its human resources manager not to hire African-American applicants because they were "trouble" and "would sue the company."  Airbus also stated that it would be a "waste of paper" to give applications to black employees..

According to the EEOC's suit, Airbus's owners referred to one employee as "the monkey" and fired her after she filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC.  In addition, Airbus terminated its human resources manager and another employee once they opposed the company's discriminatory practices. 

According to the terms of the four-year consent decree, Prestige will pay $200,000 to settle the suit.  Payments will be made to three named claimants, as well as a class of black applicants for employment. In addition, Prestige has agreed to the following additional measures as part of the consent decree. The company will:

• hire class members as openings become available over the next four years;
• implement numerical goals for the hiring of black applicants;
• use targeted advertising and recruitment to encourage black applicants to apply for employment at Prestige;
• implement an anti-discrimination policy that includes clear avenues for reporting discriminatory conduct;
• train human resources personnel, management personnel, and hiring personnel on an annual basis; and
• report to the EEOC and keep records about its hiring practices and compliance with the consent decree.