The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Hillshire Brands, formerly Sara Lee, for subjecting African-American employees at its Paris, Texas, plant to a racially hostile work environment.
The EEOC said company officials ignored the complaints of the black employees about unfair treatment, which included being called racial slurs by a supervisor and other white co-workers, as well as the presence of racially offensive graffiti.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC said July 27 it filed suit in US district court after attempting a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
Separately, the US district for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction to prevent Peters’ Bakery in East San Jose from terminating a sales clerk whose allegations of ethnic and racial harassment and retaliation are the basis for a federal lawsuit by the commission.
The EEOC said owner Charles “Chuck” Peters harassed sales clerk Marcela Ramirez with repeated derogatory jokes and comments, such as “Mexicans would rather lie than tell the truth,” and ultimately discharged her because of her national origin.
The lawsuit alleged that after Ramirez filed charges with the commission last year, her employer retaliated by filing a defamation lawsuit against her, which was dismissed, then delayed the reinstatement she won through union arbitration and tried to fire her again earlier this month.
