Vicars Powersports, a McAlester, Okla., retailer of motorsports vehicles, will pay $75,000 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sex discrimination lawsuit.

The EEOC suit charged that Vicars Powersports fired a sales manager, who was satisfactorily performing her job, because she is a woman, falsely telling her that her sales manager position was being eliminated. Weeks later, the dealership posted a message on Facebook announcing the promotion of a less experienced male employee into the sales manager position.

Such alleged conduct violated Title VII, which prohibits sex discrimination. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

In addition to requiring the company to pay $75,000 to the former employee, the three-year consent decree entered by federal magistrate Judge Jason Robertson, enjoins Vicars Powersports from future violations of Title VII and requires the dealership to train its owners, managers, and employees on its newly adopted policy prohibiting sex discrimination. The dealership is also required to notify employees of their rights and to periodically report to the EEOC all complaints of alleged sex discrimination.

“All employers are obligated to provide a workplace free from discrimination,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Andrea Baran. “This decree will help ensure that female employees at Vicars Powersports are able to do their jobs and will be evaluated based on the quality of their work, not outdated stereotypes about their gender.”

EEOC Senior Trial Attorney Patrick Holman said, “Vicars Powersports has been cooperative in working with the EEOC to reach a fair and timely resolution of this case. The company appears committed to addressing the discriminatory practices at issue and to preventing future violations.”