Wis. company settles charge that it fired black worker who filed race-discrimination complaint

Wis. company to pay $85,000 for retaliatory firing

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee construction company will pay $85,000 to settle charges that it fired a black employee after he filed a charge of racial discrimination.

CG Schmidt Inc. also agreed Thursday to provide anti-discrimination training for certain managers.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the lawsuit last year on behalf of the employee, Frederick Jackson.

The EEOC says Jackson was fired in 2006, two months after he filed a discrimination charge.

The company released a statement Friday saying it agreed to settle “to avoid the high costs of litigation.”

EEOC attorney John Hendrickson says it’s illegal to retaliate against employees who raise allegations, even in cases like this where Jackson couldn’t prove the underlying discrimination.