The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently filed a lawsuit against Olympia Construction, an Alabama company that develops houses for families and senior citizens throughout the South.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, in 2011, the project superintendent and a supervisor at one Olympia Construction’s work sites in Selma, Alabama routinely addressed and referred to its three black employees in racially derogatory language. One day, the project superintendent angrily ordered the employees off the worksite with a stream of taunts punctuated with the “N” word and then terminated them. After the employees complained to company owners and officials about the harassment, and informed them that they had contacted the EEOC, Olympia Construction terminated their employment.
The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, Selma Division and is asking for monetary damages, including back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief for the victims.
This case is another example of the types of race discrimination that unfortunately take place in the Alabama workplace. If you feel you have been discriminated against by your employer, please contact me at (205) 588-0699 or wbeckum@beckumlaw.com for a free consultation.