WASHINGTON - (USDOJ) The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with Tallahassee Community College (TCC) to resolve an employment discrimination complaint that was filed on Nov. 2, 2006. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, alleged that TCC subjected an African-American applicant to racial discrimination by not selecting him for the position of HomeSafenet Trainer because of his race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

The African-American applicant originally filed a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which investigated the charge and found reasonable cause to believe a federal civil rights violation had occurred. After unsuccessfully attempting to resolve the matter, the EEOC referred the matter to the Justice Department.

Under the consent decree, which was approved by the court today, TCC has agreed to offer the applicant $34,363 which includes $32,490 in back pay and $1,873 in accumulated interest.

"Racial discrimination in employment is both unlawful and wrong, and the Department of Justice will vigorously enforce the requirements of Title VII," said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "We are pleased that TCC worked cooperatively with the Justice Department to reach an amicable settlement of this matter."

Additional information about the Employment Litigation Section within the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is available on the Department's Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/emp/index.html.