Within the past 60 days three dealerships have reached big dollar settlements with the EEOC for races, age or gender discrimination. Most recently a dealership in Georgia paid out $140,000. With 250 new investigators and a perceived easy target in dealerships I won’t be surprised to see more of these claims in the coming months. Dealerships seems to be a favorite target for the EEOC these days, and too many make it too easy.
Beyond the four simple steps I offered in an earlier blog “ $1.5 Employment Litigation Recipe” you should also consider EPLI (Employment Practices Liablity Insurance) coverage for your dealership. Prevention is key- training, a nontolerance attitude and enforcement of policies to ensure that discrimination doesn’t happen or is swiftly dealt with at your dealership will signifcantly reduce your risk but having EPLI provides peace of mind in the event of claim occur.
After an 11 month delay for additional public comment the EPA has finalized the December 2008 amendments to the Spill Control and Countermeasures Plan (SPCC) rules. If you recall, last year’s amendments were to reduce some of the regulatory burden on smaller oil handling facilities such as yours. As it turns out, the changes resulting from the extended public comment period have not had any impact on the amendments in your business sector. As with the previous rules if your facility has an aggregate storage capacity of over 1,320 gallons (including 55 gallon drums) of petroleum products, these amendments will affect your facility.