Louisiana Food Preparer Settles $67K Racial Harassment Suit

A food preparer and retailer in Scott and Carencro, Louisiana, has agreed to pay a former employee $67,500 to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The lawsuit was resolved through a consent decree, which U.S. District Judge Michael J. Juneau approved on January 14, 2022.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the general manager at Don’s Specialty Meats routinely referred to the employee as “Black boy,” “the Black boy” and “little Black guy,” and he regularly used the “n” word in the employee’s presence. When the worker’s supervisor repeatedly called the worker a “bitch ass [n——r]” in front of managers and other employees, Don’s Specialty Meats, Inc. dis­missed the employee — but not the supervisor — for the rest of the day. The employee found the conditions so intolerable that he resigned, the EEOC said.

The EEOC filed its suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in 2021 after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its pre-litigation conciliation process. Under the three-year consent decree settling the suit, Don’s Specialty Meats will not only pay the former employee $67,500 in back pay and damages, but also conduct training, revise policies, provide regular reports to the EEOC, and post a notice that affirms its obligations under Title VII and states that employees can report violations to the EEOC.

Source: EEOC