Business in brief: Ad firm will pay to settle bias suit
A small Spokane advertising firm will pay a former employee $53,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming she was fired and replaced for being pregnant, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Wednesday.
Commission attorneys filed suit in federal court last year on behalf of Andreah Weitz, a worker at BHW1 who alleged her male manager replaced her with a less qualified freelance worker because of her pregnancy, according to a news release.
The settlement, finalized Tuesday, also calls for BHW1 managers to be trained about employment discrimination, said Bill Tamayo, a regional attorney for the commission.
Charged with enforcing federal employment discrimination laws, the commission sued seeking monetary damages after BHW1 denied Weitz’s initial claim for $50,000.
The commission late last year settled a separate case against Spokane manufacturing firm Cables Inc., Tamayo said. That case also alleged employer discrimination over firing of a pregnant employee.
– Parker Howell
Washington 31st in economic study
Washington state ranked 31st in a new study that looks at economic competitiveness and state economic development policies.
Produced through the American Legislative Exchange Council, the new report was authored by economist Arthur Laffer and Wall Street Journal writer Stephen Moore.
Washington’s overall score was affected by its relatively high sales tax system, recently enacted tax increases, inheritance tax, forced unionism, and the highest minimum wage of any state in the country.
Its business-climate advantages, the report said, included the absence of personal income tax and low worker’s compensation costs.
Idaho ranked ninth in the survey. Utah ranked first, Vermont was 50th.
The complete book that includes the rankings and methods used is online at www.alec.org; each state can be downloaded individually.
– Tom Sowa
Washington
Boeing protest contested
Northrop Grumman Corp. filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss the bulk of Boeing Co.’s protest of a $35 billion Air Force contract awarded to Northrop and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.
Los Angeles-based Northrop asked the Government Accountability Office to dismiss significant chunks of what it called Boeing’s “PR-plated” protest, which was filed on March 11.
The GAO has 100 days from that date to issue a decision. Northrop’s request is not expected to delay that process.
In a statement, Northrop said it wants to “clear the air and afford the GAO the opportunity to do its job without distraction.”
Northrop argues in its filing that many of Boeing’s claims to the GAO come too late. Northrop says Boeing should have raised these concerns with the Air Force before submitting its final tanker proposal.
– Associated Press