EEOC Sues Large Seafood Wholesaler for Sex Discrimination

ATLANTA - KGI Trading GA, Inc., and related business partners, operating in three states as seafood wholesaler Moon N Sea, denied employment opportunities to a class of qualified female applicants for warehouse positions based on their sex, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC's suit, a class of women applied for warehouse associate positions in Moon N Sea's Buford, Georgia facility, but were passed over because they were female. During the application process, female applicants were told the company preferred hiring men for the warehouse positions because men could lift more weight than women. Despite being fully qualified for the positions, female applicants were denied the positions in favor of less qualified male applicants, the EEOC said.

"Title VII prohibits discrimination against an employee because of their sex," said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC's Atlanta District Office. "An employer cannot make decisions based on discriminatory stereotypes about sex that discredit a woman's ability to perform manual work."

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. KGI Trading GA, Inc. et. al., Case No. 1:25-cv-05455) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Darrell Graham, district director of the EEOC's Atlanta District Office, said, "Ensuring that workplaces, including those in historically male-dominated industries, are free from sex discrimination remains a top priority for the EEOC."

For more information on sex discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination.

The EEOC's Atlanta District Office is responsible for addressing discrimination charges and conducting agency litigation in the State of Georgia and the State of South Carolina Counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper, and Williamsburg.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government's employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.