U.S. Sues Exxon Mobil Over Nooses Found at Louisiana Refinery

[In It to Win It]

NYT

No paywall

The federal government filed an employment discrimination lawsuit in Louisiana on Friday against Exxon Mobil after investigating a Black employee’s complaint that nooses had been found at a Baton Rouge, La., refinery complex.

The lawsuit said that the company created a hostile work environment for the employee, Milferd McGhee, and other workers by failing to implement measures to remedy and prevent harassment after five nooses were found at the complex between April 2016 and December 2020.

Mr. McGhee filed a complaint against Exxon with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that enforces civil rights laws against workplace discrimination.

He reported the discovery of a noose to a supervisor in January 2020, and nearly a year later, another noose appeared, according to the lawsuit. The first case was in April 2016, when an employee at the Baton Rouge plant reported that a rope had been tied into a noose hanging from a scaffold.

The company investigated and banned two unidentified contractors but did not take remedial measures, “such as training, counseling or policy changes, to prevent further racial harassment,” the lawsuit said.

[Throck]

1. What if they were meant for rotten managers?