The EEOC claims a manager told an applicant he was 'not allowed to hire women'
The EEOC has sued a nationwide trucking company, alleging it systematically turned away qualified women drivers at terminals across the country.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit on March 31 against Central Transport, LLC, a nationwide less-than-truckload carrier, alleging the company systematically refused to hire female applicants for truck driver positions from January 2016 to the present. Central Transport operates more than 200 terminals and employs over 500 workers.
The case, EEOC v. Central Transport, LLC (Case No. 2:26-cv-02201, D. Ariz.), paints a troubling picture of how hiring decisions were allegedly made — and who was left out.
At the center of the lawsuit are two women. Maquater Hamilton, who had approximately 15 years behind the wheel when she applied at the Phoenix terminal in September 2016, was allegedly told she would not be interviewed. No reason was given. Her application, the EEOC alleges, was never even sent to corporate headquarters for review — a departure from the company's own standard process. A senior manager later admitted under oath that her application should have moved forward.
By contrast, a male applicant at the same terminal just months earlier was allegedly hired with only two months of experience — well below the company's own six-month minimum.
Cassandra Coleman, with approximately 21 years of experience, allegedly walked into the same Phoenix terminal in November 2016 and was discouraged from even filling out an application. A male dispatcher told her "it's not going to do you any good," according to the EEOC's filing. She was never interviewed or hired.
The allegations stretch far beyond Phoenix. The EEOC details similar accounts at terminals in Detroit, Dunbar (West Virginia), Memphis, Bartlett (Tennessee), Horn Lake (Mississippi), Chicago, Springfield (Illinois), Blue Springs (Missouri), North Jackson (Ohio), Cheboygan (Michigan), and Atlanta.
Some of the accounts are particularly stark. A terminal manager in West Virginia allegedly told a female applicant he was "not allowed to hire women." In Chicago, a woman was allegedly told the company was "not currently hiring any female drivers." In Detroit, a female applicant and her male cousin submitted applications together, then returned shortly after to add missing information — only to find her application had been thrown in a trash can while his was readily retrieved. He was hired. She was not.
The EEOC also raised red flags around recordkeeping. The agency alleges Central Transport submitted workforce reports that included employee gender data but then claimed it did not have gender information for its hires during the same period. Thousands of paper applications from 2015 and 2016 were allegedly never produced, and the company refused to turn over interview notes.
Two Phoenix terminal managers each told EEOC investigators they could not recall a single female truck driver ever being hired or working at the Phoenix terminal.
The agency is asking the court for a permanent injunction, back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and an order directing Central Transport to overhaul its hiring practices nationwide. A jury trial has been demanded.
No determination on the merits has been made. Central Transport has not yet responded to the allegations.
