The world's largest manufacturer of foam cups failed to promote employees to supervisory positions at its Leola facility because of race and national origin, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit it filed Tuesday.

The EEOC alleged in its lawsuit that Dart Container Corp. refused to promote Ibrahim A. Al-Badawi to a cup relief supervisor position because of his race (black) and national origin (Sudanese), even though he had often filled in as an acting supervisor when the supervisor or assistant supervisor were absent. Instead, the company promoted a white employee who had no operations experience in foam cup machinery and manufacturing and had to be trained in the supervisory position.

The EEOC claims that the company later refused to promote Al-Badawi for a cup plant shift supervisor position and, again, selected a less qualified white employee whom Al-Badawi had to train on the relevant cup manufacturing equipment.

The EEOC further contends that Dart repeatedly failed to promote black and Hispanic employees based on race and national origin and instead promoted less qualified white employees.

James Lammers, general counsel and vice president of administration for Dart, said, "Although we do not comment on pending litigation, Dart is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to ensuring every employment decision is made without regard to race, national origin, or other protected characteristic."

Making promotion decisions based on race or national origin violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.