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Sega, Spherion Settle Suit Alleging Bias Against Filipinos
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a $600,000 settlement of an employment discrimination lawsuit against San Francisco-based game developer Sega of America, Inc., and Spherion Corporation, a staffing, recruiting and outsourcing company with more than 800 locations in nine countries. The EEOC lawsuit charged that Sega directed Spherion to terminate temporary employees placed at Sega's testing department. The EEOC asserted that 13 Filipino game testers were fired due to their national origin and, at the same time, five other testers fired in retaliation for their friendship with an employee who had threatened to file a complaint alleging preferential treatment of Filipino employees.
Under the Consent Decree, the 18 former employees will be paid $456,000 from Sega and $144,000 from Spherion, for a total of $600,000. Both Sega and Spherion, without admitting liability, have also agreed to conduct training to prevent future discrimination. In addition, Spherion will update its anti-discrimination policies according to the EEOC's guidelines on contingent workers, and seek to recruit Filipino employees to its San Francisco Bay Area offices by placing advertisements in a local Filipino newspaper.
Jeff Sideño, one of the game testers named in the case, noted, "This was a job in an industry I'm passionate about, so losing it was devastating. As a temp worker, you wonder what kind rights you have. I hope this outcome will encourage others to come forward to the EEOC and report discrimination."
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