LUMBERTON — Two businesses with Robeson County ties will be paying a total of $120,000 in settlements to three women who were found by federal courts to have been discriminated against.

Two Hawk Employment Services LLC, a temporary employment agency located in Lumberton, was ordered to pay $30,000 to a woman the company refused to hire in 2013. An international company that operates Smart Style Family Hair Salon in Pembroke must pay $90,000 to two former employees who say they were fired after complaining about race discrimination.

A disability discrimination lawsuit against Two Hawk was filed in February by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The commission charged that Two Hawk violated federal law when it made illegal medical inquiries of job applicants and failed to retain employment applications and related documents as required by federal law. The suit also alleged that Two Hawk failed to hire an applicant because she disclosed her disability during the application process.

Two Hawk is owned and operated by Harvey Godwin Jr., chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

The EEOC alleged in its suit that when Nicole Bullard applied for a job with Two Hawk in May 2013 she was asked medical history questions that violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. She was offered a job that was rescinded a day after her orientation for the job was held. During the orientation she was asked to answer additional illegal medical questions and ultimately disclosed medications she was taking.

“The questions asked during the application process, as well as the alleged refusal to hire Bullard due to the medical information she had disclosed, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act,” the EEOC said in a statement.

According to the EEOC, Two Hawk also failed to retain for the one year required by law applications and other records related to hiring. The law requires these records to be maintained to help the EEOC determine if an employer has violated employment laws.

According to the court decision issued June 2, Two Hawk has not yet answered the complaint nor admitted any of the allegations made against it. Godwin has reportedly declined through a spokesman to discuss the lawsuit.

In addition to the $30,000 fine, Two Hawk has been ordered by the court not to make medical inquiries of a job applicant that violates the ADA; not make pre-offer medical inquiries of applicants during its application process; and preserve all records relevant to the determination of whether unlawful employment practices have been or are being committed.

The ruling also requires Two Hawk to adopt and implement a formal written anti-discrimination policy and provide an annual training program to all its Lumberton corporate office and branch office staff concerning ADA requirements and its prohibition against illegal medical inquiries.

In another settlement, Hope Hunt and Annie Mae Locklear maintain they were fired from Pembroke’s Smart Style Family Hair Salon after complaining about race discrimination when it came to hiring a new stylist. The salon is operated by Minneapolis-based Regis Corporation.

“EEOC contends Hunt and Locklear were discharged because they opposed what they reasonably believed to be an unlawful employment practice,” the EEOC said in a statement.

According to the EEOC lawsuit, Hope Hunt and Annie Mae Locklear were fired on Aug. 14, 2014, after they say a co-worker who was later promoted to salon manager said she would not hire a black applicant because of her race.

After interviewing the black candidate, the co-worker told Locklear and Hunt she “did not want an African American working in the salon,” the lawsuit says. The co-worker then interviewed an American Indian candidate, who was hired in July 2014. A month later, Hunt and Locklear were told they were being terminated “for lying when they told the African-American candidate that she was not hired because of her race.”

Regis Corporation denied the allegations, but agreed to pay Hunt and Locklear $45,000 each. Additionally, the company must change their records to say Hunt and Locklear “voluntarily resigned” from their positions and write reference letters for them.

Training on workplace discrimination and policies prohibiting retaliation must be provided in Regis Corporation’s North Carolina salons and the Pembroke salon as well as locations in South Carolina managed by the same supervisor must display notice of the settlement.

By Bob Shiles

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Sarah Willets

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Bob Shiles can be reached at 910-416-5165 and Sarah Willets at 910-816-1974.