The EEOC claims TNT Crane & Rigging consistently neglected to address or investigate complaints from four Black employees, instead harassing and discriminating against them.
A construction company has been sued in federal court after employees accused it of hanging nooses and white supremacy symbols at their work.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in a press release, claims the Fort Worth, Texas, branch of TNT Crane & Rigging harassed and discriminated against four Black employees, violating federal law.
According to the lawsuit, the Black employees frequently complained about racial jokes and insults, the Dallas Morning News reported. Nooses and lightning-bolt stickers, a typical white supremacist emblem, were prominently displayed at work, including in the company’s now-closed Dallas branch, the newspaper reported.
The branch manager reportedly called the noose a “cowboy knot,” and a white employee reportedly once informed a Black colleague that Black people are lazy, the Morning News said.
“TNT knowingly permitted a work environment filled with racist comments and imagery,” EEOC attorney Brian Hawthorne said in the press release. “No employee should have to work in an environment openly hostile to their race, and no employee should suffer reprisal for objecting to discriminatory practices.”
Someone flattened the tires of one employee’s car after he complained, and a different employee allegedly shoved, threatened, and cursed at him, the newspaper reported.
The EEOC also alleges that the company retaliated and cut a white employee’s salary and work hours after he voiced his concerns to supervisors and human services.
The branch manager referred to him as a “troublemaker” and accused him of “stirring the pot,” while other employees referred to him as a “snitch,” the lawsuit, as reported by the Morning News, claims. He finally quit due to harassment and poor working conditions. Representatives for TNT Crane & Rigging did not respond to theGrio’s requests for comment.
On its website, TNT promotes itself as one of North America’s largest crane service suppliers. The business was founded in 1985 in Houston and has since expanded to 40 locations across North America, including Austin and Oklahoma City.
The case, filed on Aug. 24, 2023, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, demands back pay, compensatory and punitive damages for the four Black employees, and reinstatement or front pay for the white employee.
The EEOC claims that racism and discrimination against women and people of color are endemic in the construction industry. Charlotte A. Burrows, the agency’s chair, said that while the claims are alarming, they are not exceptional.
“Unfortunately, many women and people of color have either been shut out of construction jobs or face discrimination that limits their ability to thrive in these careers,” Burrows said, the Morning News reported.
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