Chubb Unit Settles Discrimination, Retaliation Lawsuit

A Chubb Corp. unit has agreed to pay $110,000 to settle a case in which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accused it of discrimination and retaliation against a Hmong employee seeking promotion to underwriter.

In a written statement released May 4, the EEOC said Federal Insurance Co., a unit of Warren, New Jersey-based Chubb, refused to promote Kong Chee Vang in its Milwaukee underwriting office because she is Asian.

The EEOC alleged that Chubb failed to stop its managers from using stereotypes and negative assumptions based on race when Vang sought promotion to underwriter in 2006 and 2007.

The EEOC further alleged that after Federal Insurance rejected promoting her in 2006 and Vang filed a complaint with the EEOC accusing the insurer of discrimination, Chubb retaliated against her by rejecting her for a second promotion in 2007.

The parties reached an agreement on the case, which was brought in 2010, before a scheduled mediation, resulting in a consent decree that a federal judge in Milwaukee approved on May 3.

Vang, whose settlement reflects $60,000 in back wages and $50,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress, continues to work for Chubb, according to the EEOC.

A Chubb spokesman could not be reached for comment.  

Filed by Judy Greenwald of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

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