The eight people, all black, sued the tiremaker Jan. 31 for an undetermined amount of money and asked for a jury trial. The lawsuit alleges that co-workers referred to Jeffrey Cavil, Rosie Crawford, Robert Goods, Marcus Butts, Stephanie Moore, Henry Robertson, John Scott and Robert Simmons as slaves, likened them to monkeys, and hung nooses and swastikas around the plant.
Managers ignored the behavior, the lawsuit contends, and helped the labor union "stonewall investigations" of harassment by white employees.
The lawsuit claims the behavior goes back to 1997. It accuses managers of retaliation against employees who complained and of "wrongfully terminating African Americans based on race."
Thomas Newkirk, a civil rights attorney who represents the eight workers, said the lawsuit could expand to include others. The alleged abuse arose in isolated incidents, he said, and many of the affected employees did not realize that the behavior was widespread.
"You don’t assume that, just because one white employee uses the n-word, that it infects the entire workplace," Newkirk said. He said his clients "don’t have meetings together to discuss the ‘racial incident of the day.’ "
"Part of the litigation process is figuring out how deep the rabbit hole goes," he said.
Jeff Higgins, the company’s director of labor relations, has been named in the lawsuit. He did not return telephone calls Thursday. A company spokeswoman also did not respond to phone messages. (Tire Review/Akron)
