In the last two weeks, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued several trucking companies over allegations the businesses used discriminatory practices against employees.

Among the commission’s flurry of filings since Sept. 23 are lawsuits against California-based Sutter Transfer Service, Stevens Transport of Dallas and Alabama-based Joe Ryan Trucking. The EEOC first had attempted a voluntary settlement with the companies before going to court.

It filed a complaint against Sutter Transfer Service Sept. 29 in Sacramento’s U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The commission alleges the family-operated construction hauler allowed its dispatcher to harass employees with racial epithets. Truckers witnessed the harassment, but company officials did not take effective action, even after one trucker complained to management.

Bruce Peacock, STS president and CEO, said he does not discuss matters in litigation.

The EEOC seeks compensatory and punitive damages for drivers exposed to racial slurs, management training on anti-discrimination laws and other injunctive relief.

Also Sept. 29, the agency sued Stevens Transport over allegations the over-the-road refrigerated truckload carrier had discriminated against an applicant based on disability. The company did not respond to a request for comment over the suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.