TAMPA — A Tampa-based janitorial service provider has been charged with an "ongoing pattern" denying African-American applications employment based on their race in a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Diversified Maintenance System, LLC is also accused of subjecting one black employee to racial slurs, discriminatory practices and punishment for opposing its unlawful actions.

"Diversified Maintenance disagrees with every aspect of the EEOC's allegations and firmly stands by the company's commitment to equal employment opportunities for all applicants," company spokesperson Carol Cookerly said in a statement Thursday. "After a two-year unproductive fishing expedition -— where Diversified Maintenance has been cooperative in responding to every extensive document request from the EEOC — the commission has clearly chosen to file an unsubstantiated lawsuit on behalf of one single disgruntled former employee citing manipulated and redacted statistics."

More at source: TampaBay.com