The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has agreed to accept $150,000 to resolve claims that a farm operation in Mississippi gave foreign-born agricultural workers preferential treatment over American workers. The EEOC alleged the Seward and Son Planting Co. in Louise, Mississippi subjected Black farm workers of American national origin to unlawful discrimination by providing foreign workers with preferential job assignments which were less strenuous, and had more work hours, higher pay, and higher bonuses. The settlement comes just as the EEOC announces a focus on eradicating so-called discrimination against American workers. The agency has issued announcements calling for anyone who observes anti-American discrimination in the workplace to make a report. On Nov. 20, the EEOC issued a technical assistance document titled, "Discrimination Against American Workers Is Against the Law." Anti-American bias has allegedly been a key priority of the Trump administration. In the Mississippi case, the EEOC said the company supplemented its American workforce with foreign workers from 2020 to 2023. The foreign workers were non-Black and non-American and were permitted to work in the United States under the H-2A visa program, the EEOC said in its suit. The country of origin of the foreign workers was not specified in court documents. Seward and Son has a farming operation with 22,000 acres of corn, soybeans and cotton. Its Black workers were required to train the foreign workers to use American equipment that the foreign workers were unfamiliar with, the suit said. The EEOC suit was filed on Sept. 25 and the case was dismissed Tuesday. The settlement calls for the $150,000 to be distributed to aggrieved individuals in a manner to be determined by the EEOC. The settlement also calls for the defendant to review, revise as necessary, and disseminate written policies and procedures against discrimination and retaliation. These policies must include a statement expressing, among other things, the defendant's "strong and clear commitment to a workplace that complies with anti-discrimination laws including Title VII and that is free of unlawful discrimination and retaliation; an explanation of the anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation laws, including Title VII, enforced by the EEOC; clear definitions of race-based discrimination, national-origin-based discrimination, and retaliation, with examples where appropriate; and an explanation of employees’ rights to be free from unlawful discrimination including discrimination based on race or national origin. Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham District, said in a statement, “We commend Seward and Son for its cooperation in early resolution of this lawsuit and undertaking measures to ensure that its employees are not treated differently based on their race and national origin in the future.” Cynthia T. Lee of Holland & Knight represented Seward and Son in the EEOC case, which was in the Northern District of Mississippi. She did not respond to a request for comment on the settlement.