99 Ranch Market Sued By Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

ALAMEDA, CA— The federal government announced a lawsuit Tuesday against Tawa Supermarket, Inc., which does business as 99 Ranch Market, for alleged discrimination against non-Chinese employees.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Employment office in Los Angeles claimed in the July lawsuit that since 2016, 99 Ranch Market allegedly terminated recently hired non-Chinese employees at multiple locations and refused to compensate non-Chinese workers at the same rate of their peers.

The Buena Park-based private family-owned company has 16 locations across the Bay Area and is one of the largest Asian grocery chains in the country. It was founded in 1984 in Orange County and has expanded to over 10 states.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, alleges the company did not promote employees, paid them less, and scheduled them for fewer hours on the basis of not being Chinese.

In the complaint, acting general counsel for the Equal Employment Opportunity Office Catherine Eschbach said a cultural preference regarding the composition of their workforce does not insulate the company from liability.

"Preferences based on protected characteristics are simply a form of illegal discrimination under Title VII," said Eschbach. "That the employer here is a Chinese supermarket chain does not provide license to terminate non-Chinese managers or otherwise discriminate against non-Chinese workers in employment terms and conditions."

99 Ranch Market did not immediately respond for comment.

By Andres Jimenez Larios, Bay City News
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