On September 1, 2026, Ford Motor Company (“Ford”) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) jointly announced that Ford will pay $2.3 million to settle a 2021 charge alleging employees at its Buffalo, New York stamping plant were made to endure racially charged graffiti. The EEOC’s investigation of the charge found reasonable cause to believe unidentified Ford personnel left graffiti targeting black employees and employees of various national origins, including Native American and Hispanic workers, in public areas throughout the plant, such as bathrooms and break rooms.

Ford agreed to pay the settlement amount pursuant to a conciliation agreement with the EEOC, a result of the EEOC’s pre-litigation conciliation process. Conciliation is a negotiation effort between the EEOC and an alleged violator of Title VII that takes place after the EEOC has issued a reasonable-cause determination while it is decided whether to file a lawsuit. When resolution is reached through conciliation, a complaint is never filed, and a court will not rule on the merits of the allegations.

Under the conciliation agreement, Ford will provide $2.3 million in monetary relief to eligible claimants, including individuals who worked at its Buffalo Stamping Plant during the relevant period and believe they experienced discrimination or harassment based on race or national origin, including exposure to discriminatory graffiti.” Ford must also post and explain its anti-graffiti protocol, conduct regular training, and report discrimination complaints and graffiti incidents to the for the next three years. Separately, Ford voluntarily invested more than $3.5 million in enhanced security and surveillance, anti-graffiti coatings, and comprehensive graffiti reporting and removal protocol at its Buffalo stamping plant.

This settlement highlights the purpose of pre-litigation conciliation negotiations and the importance of taking preventative and prompt corrective action in response to alleged instances of harassment, even where the alleged perpetrator remains unidentified. Under the Faragher-Ellerth defense, an employer may successfully defend against a hostile work-environment claim if it exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct harassing behavior, and that the employee unreasonably failed to use the preventive or corrective opportunities provided. See Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 807 (1998); Burlington Indus., Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742, 765 (1998). The remedial measures undertaken by Ford, including those required by the conciliation agreement and those implemented voluntarily are the types of proactive measures that could support a finding that an employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct harassing conduct. Notably, the EEOC’s press release suggests that Ford’s proactive and voluntary measures during the EEOC’s investigation that demonstrated its “commitment to fostering a workplace free of discrimination” and contributed to resolving the matter at the conciliation stage rather than through formal litigation. This resolution illustrates the potential benefits of maintaining well-documented anti-harassment policies, promptly investigating and addressing complaints, implementing appropriate remedial measures, and proactively cooperating with the EEOC.