(SALISBURY, Md.)- The real estate company Rinnier Development Co. has allegedly refused to promote an African American female employee, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Instead, the complaint claims Shannon Payton, who EEOC alleges was paid less because of her race, was replaced by a white female.
So the EEOC is taking this Salisbury-based company to court.
Rinnier tells WRDE Payton's "lack of performance" resulted in her "lack of promotion," and the allegations of race discrimination are not true.
The company tells WRDE Payton voluntarily quit back in 2011, but Rinnier says they were first approached a year later, in 2012.
Payton was hired as an assistant community manager at Rinnier's Arden's Run facility on UMES Boulevard in Princess Anne. According the company's website, Rinnier Development Co. is a commercial and residential real estate company that manages six housing communities with residential leases.