by Hazel Trice Edney August 26, 2005
http://www.chicagodefender.com/page/business.cfm?ArticleID=2041
WASHINGTON - Twelve Black employees of Tyson Foods, Inc. in Ashland, Ala. are suing the Springdale, Ark.-based corporation, alleging that it maintained a segregated break room and bathroom. They charge that it was replete with a "Whites only" sign.
"When I was young, my mother used to tell me stories about segregated bathrooms," said Henry Adams, a plaintiff in the case in a statement issued by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the law firms intervening in the case against the chicken processing plant. "I never thought that her reality of seventy-one years ago would become my reality today."
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has also joined the lawsuit, filed Aug. 12 in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Eastern Division.
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The 70-year-old multi-billion dollar Tyson Foods has 300 plants around the world, including 12 in Alabama.
According to the complaint, in July 2003, a newly-renovated bathroom at the plant remained locked except to a White supervisor and certain White employees. It alleges that a Tyson authority initially placed an "out of order" sign on the door although the bathroom was working well.
"The same White employees denied plaintiff-intervenors and other African-American employees, including supervisors, use of the bathroom," the complaint said.
It added that despite complaints to the supervisor and the plant manager by Black employees, the exclusive use of the bathroom by Whites was continued. "Thereafter, in August 2003, employees or agents of Defendant placed a sign on the bathroom door that read 'Whites Only,'" the complaint states.
The sign and a padlock remained on the door through the month of August 2003 even as the plant manager, to whom the Black employees had complained, held a meeting on Aug. 25 accusing them of being unsanitary. Blacks were allowed to use another bathroom at the facility, the complaint states.
"The plant manager pounded the table and angrily stated that the workers were 'nasty', 'dirty', and behaved like children and stated that the bathroom had been locked for those reasons," the complaint states. "The plant manager continued that if the bathroom was not kept clean, it would be torn down and the workers would have to soil themselves."
The manager then retaliated against those who complained about the Whites only bathroom, according to the court documents. It said after the Aug. 25th meeting, the plant manager announced that the break room where many African-Americans employees ate their lunch and took breaks would be eliminated and that no employees would be allowed to take breaks in the "Old Shop," the section of the plant where the plaintiffs work.
"After the meeting, the defendant eliminated the break room in the Old Shop. However, many of the same White employees who had keys to the bathroom or used the bathroom began to use another room in the Old Shop as their new break room.
Initially, the door to the new break room was locked and only certain White employees had keys," the complaint continues. "Currently, the door is unlocked, but White employees exclusively have keys to and use a locked refrigerator and locked cabinets in the new break room."
Those who complained were given disciplinary write-ups, the complaint states.
The Black employees alleged that the locked "Whites Only" bathroom and break room accompanies racist and threatening language that have been used pervasively by supervisors at the plant, including the n-word, slurs about Blacks and watermelons and one plaintiff alleges he has been harassed and humiliated by being repeatedly called "boy."
"A picture of two monkeys with the names of two African-American employees written by the photos was placed on the locker of an African-American employee. A White employee led a plaintiff to a room and showed the plaintiff a noose," the complaint states.
Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson claims the charges are 'without merit.'
He stated, 'Once we became aware of the allegations, we immediately conducted our own review.Ü While the details of this review are now a matter of litigation, we can tell you we believe the charges are without merit.'
He continues, 'We can also tell you the presence of any sign suggesting "whites only" or segregation of any kind is, without a doubt, a violation of our policies and contrary to our company's culture.Ü It is not and never will be condoned or tolerated by Tyson Foods or our management team. Our company has zero tolerance for discrimination in the workplace.'
The lawsuit claims that Tyson violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by maintaining a racially hostile work environment and retaliating against those who complained. The lawsuit alleges Alabama laws were broken as Tyson supervisors were negligent and outrageous in their conduct.
The 12 employees and the EEOC, among other remedies, are asking the court to stop Tyson from continuing the illegal practices and to order the corporation to "establish policies and procedures to remedy the racial harassment and retaliation."
Says Clay Thomas, another plaintiff in the case, "If somebody doesn't stand up and say something now, it's going to go on like this forever."
Hazel Trice Edney is a Washington correspondent for the NNPA
(Tyson Foods historically has been a major financial backer of former President Bill Clinton. SR)
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