EEOC Sues Ex-Boeing Unit

A former Boeing Co. unit was sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over allegations that the unit, Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices Inc., refused to hire a black woman because of her race.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, also names as a defendant an L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. unit that bought the Boeing division in February, the commission said.

Ken Mercer, a spokesman for Chicago-based Boeing, said he hadn’t seen the suit and was unable to comment immediately. Abby Cohen, a spokeswoman for New York-based L-3 Communications, said the company didn’t comment on pending lawsuits.

Electron Dynamic Devices, based in Torrance, makes satellite and military components. It repeatedly rejected the woman for positions for which she was qualified, the commission alleged. Attempts to settle the case before filing a lawsuit failed, the commission said.

Boeing is a defendant in nine employment discrimination suits filed from June 1998 to January 2005, according to the company’s regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Blacks are involved in two of those cases: a class action in Seattle and a case seeking class-action status in Chicago.

Boeing shares fell 78 cents to $61.67. Shares of L-3 Communications fell 6 cents to $76.76.