Ethics Newsline®

SEATTLE
A U.S. seafood company last week agreed to pay $1.25 million to a boat crew of 18 Vietnamese workers who charged the company with mistreating them because of their race.

The workers, who processed fish on an American Seafoods vessel near Alaska, accused the company of forcing them to work while they were ill, denying warranted pay and promotions, and firing workers who complained.

Investigators from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said they found evidence of “egregious” discrimination against the workers.

American Seafoods president Mike Hyde admitted that his company erred in pushing the Vietnamese crew to continue working while they were ill with the flu, but denied that racism played any role.

But the company agreed to the monetary settlement and to provide employees with antidiscrimination training, according to the AP report.