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Dollar General has agreed to cough up $42,500 to settle a lawsuit claiming a manager at a Georgia store fired a staffer “immediately” after finding out she was pregnant, and citing “health reasons” in her separation notice.

In September 2020, Calleigh Rutledge was working as a sales associate at a Dollar General in Baldwin, Ga., when she told the store manager that she was pregnant, according to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Georgia federal court last month.

“Immediately after learning of her pregnancy,” the manager said: “Since you are pregnant, you can no longer work here,” according to the EEOC, though Rutledge reportedly never requested maternity leave or suggested that she was unable to work during her employment.

Later that evening, the store manager called Rutledge to apologize for firing her, and said she would inquire about whether she could return to work for “light duty” at two hours per day the EEOC claimed in the court documents obtained by The Post.

The EEOC cited a text exchange between Rutledge and her manager, where the mother-to-be said she needed to work more than two hours per day in order to make enough money for her and her baby.

“Will that be safe? How many hrs are you thinking?” the manager replied, to which Rutledge said she wanted to keep her schedule the same throughout her pregnancy, the filing showed.

“Rutledge was never again placed on the work schedule,” according to the lawsuit, and just days after revealing her pregnancy, Rutledge received a separation notice stating her discharge was due to “health reasons.”

The EEOC shared that Dollar General agreed to settle the pregnancy discrimination lawsuit with $42,500 in a press release on Wednesday.

Of the sum, $29,750 will cover compensatory damages while $12,750 goes towards back pay damages.

It’s unclear if Rutledge sought to get her job back as a Dollar General cashier.

The federal agency also said Dollar General agreed to revise its anti-discrimination policies, provide annual training to its managers on Title VII — which protects employees from discrimination in the workplace — and allow the EEOC to monitor complaints of discrimination.

The EEOC declined to comment on pending litigation.

Representatives for Dollar General did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

The Tennessee-based discount chain hasn’t been having a good year so far.

Year-to-date, Dollar General’s share price has tanked nearly 60%, to $101.83, and it’s been getting slammed by retail theft and waning consumer demand.

The company warned Wall Street in August that its profits may plunge as much as 34% this fiscal year — compared to its previous forecast for an 8% decline — as it cut its full-year outlook for the second time.

Our revised guide is really a function of the slower transactions that were seeing, and higher expected shrink, Dollar General CFO Kelly Dilts said on a call with analysts after the company reported quarterly earnings that fell short of Wall Street estimates on Aug. 31.

The reference to shrink an industry term for stolen or damaged goods follows a troubling trend cited by other major retailers who have blamed the scourge of organized retail theft for impacting their bottom line.

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Rare earth stocks surge on U.S-China trade dispute over the critical minerals

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Rare earth stocks surge on U.S-China trade dispute over the critical minerals

A dump truck moves raw ore inside the pit at the Mountain Pass mine, operated by MP Materials, in Mountain Pass, California, U.S., on Friday, June 7, 2019.

Joe Buglewicz | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Shares of U.S. rare earth miners surged in early trading Monday, after President Donald Trump threatened China with retaliation over its strict export controls.

USA Rare Earth soared more than 18%, Critical Metals surged 18%, Energy Fuels jumped more than 11%, and MP Materials rallied about 8%.

Trump on Friday threatened China with a “massive” increase in tariffs in retaliation for Beijing imposing strict export controls on rare earth elements. The president then dialed down his rhetoric on Sunday, saying the situation with China will “be fine.”

The Defense Department, meanwhile, is accelerating its effort to stockpile $1 billion worth of critical minerals, according to The Financial Times.

And JPMorgan Chase said Monday it would invest up to $10 billion in companies that are crucial to U.S. national security.

“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing — all of which are essential for our national security,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in press release.

Rare earths are a subset of critical minerals that are crucial inputs in U.S. weapons platforms, robotics, electric vehicles and other applications.

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Bloom Energy shares soar more than 30% after striking deal with Brookfield to provide fuel cells to AI data centers

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Bloom Energy shares soar more than 30% after striking deal with Brookfield to provide fuel cells to AI data centers

Bloom Energy power storage equipment in San Ramon, California.

Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images

Shares of Bloom Energy surged Monday after striking a deal with Brookfield to deploy fuel cells for artificial intelligence data centers.

Brookfield will spend up to $5 billion to deploy Bloom Energy’s technology, the first investment in its strategy to support big AI data centers with power and computing infrastructure.

Shares of Bloom Energy were up more than 30% in early trading. Bloom’s fuel cells provide onsite power that can be deployed quickly because they do not rely on the electric grid.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC last week that the AI industry will need to build power off the electric to meet demand quickly and protect consumers from rising electricity prices.

“Data center self-generated power could move a lot faster than putting it on the grid and we have to do that,” Huang told CNBC on Oct. 8.

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

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JPMorgan Chase says it will invest $10 billion into industries critical for national security

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JPMorgan Chase says it will invest  billion into industries critical for national security

JPMorgan Chase says it will invest $10 billion into industries critical for national security

JPMorgan Chase on Monday said it is launching a decade-long plan to help finance and take direct stakes in companies it considers crucial to U.S. interests.

The bank said in a statement it would invest up to $10 billion into companies in four areas: defense and aerospace, “frontier” technologies including AI and quantum computing, energy technology including batteries, and supply chain and advanced manufacturing.

The money is part of a broader effort, dubbed the Security and Resiliency Initiative, in which JPMorgan said it will finance or facilitate $1.5 trillion in funding for companies it identifies as crucial. It said the total amount is 50% more than a previous plan.

“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing — all of which are essential for our national security,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in the release.

As the biggest American bank by assets and a Wall Street juggernaut, JPMorgan was already raising funds and lending money to companies in those industries. But the move helps organize the company’s activities around national interests at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China.

On Friday, markets tumbled as President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese imports after the major U.S. trading partner tightened export controls on rare earths.

In the release, Dimon said that the U.S. needs to “remove obstacles” including excessive regulations, “bureaucratic delay” and “partisan gridlock.”

JPMorgan said that within the four major areas, there were 27 specific industries it would look to support with advice, financing and investments. That includes areas as diverse as nanomaterials, autonomous robots, spacecraft and space launches, and nuclear and solar power.

“Our security is predicated on the strength and resiliency of America’s economy,” Dimon said. “This new initiative includes efforts like ensuring reliable access to life-saving medicines and critical minerals, defending our nation, building energy systems to meet AI-driven demand and advancing technologies like semiconductors and data centers.”

The bank said it would hire an unspecified numbers of bankers and create an external advisory council to support its initiative.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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