The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday it has resolved a discrimination lawsuit against Micron Technology Inc. involving a former Micron employee who allegedly was mistreated because he is a racial minority and deaf.

In reaching the settlement, Micron maintained that no illegal harassment occurred.

According to a statement released by the EEOC, Micron agreed to a settlement payment of $60,000 and other relief to Jose Artalejo, who was employed by Micron from 2000 through 2002 — prior to the company's joint venture with Intel that became IM Flash in Lehi.

In its statement Wednesday, the EEOC alleged that Artalejo's co-workers made "a variety of offensive comments regarding (Artalejo's) hearing impairments," that some mocked him by pretending to communicate via sign language and that others referred to Artalejo using racial epithets.

Artalejo complained to Micron officials, who then "failed to take appropriate action to prevent or correct the conduct," the EEOC said. Further, the commission alleged that Micron denied Artalejo "reasonable accommodations for his hearing impairment and fired him because he complained of discrimination."

"Jose Artalejo wanted to do a good job for Micron," Mary Jo O'Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC's Phoenix office, said in the statement. "In return, Mr. Artalejo claims that Micron permitted co-workers to subject him to extremely offensive comments and then made a bad situation worse by firing him for complaining. No employee should ever be the target of the kind of behavior Mr. Artalejo alleges."

According to the EEOC statement, Micron agreed to pay Artalejo $60,0000 and provide him a letter of regret and a positive letter of recommendation.

Micron spokesman Daniel Francisco said Wednesday that the company "denies any illegal discrimination or harassment occurred in this case."

"We entered into the consent decree because the EEOC made such agreement a condition of settlement in the case," Francisco said. "Micron's existing policies and procedures are consistent with the decree. The company firmly stands behind its policies and training, that strictly prohibit discrimination and harass- ment."

---

E-mail: jnii@desnews.com