Google: Racial Harassment at Google Data Center Construction Site Cost Whiting-Turner $1.2m

May 08, 2023 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against the construction company Whiting-Turner alleging racial harassment and retaliation against former Black employees. The lawsuit centered on the company's role as the general contractor for the Google data center's construction in Clarksville, Tennessee. According to the EEOC case, Black employees were frequently addressed as "boy," "m****f*****," and "you." Racially offensive graffiti with references to the KKK and white power was written on buildings and porta potties, and on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a noose was put on display at work.

A temporary employment agency placed at least two Black men on the job site, and they were subsequently designated to a "all-Black sub-crew" that often received the most physically demanding and undesirable tasks. According to the complaint, they were instructed to "get ya' black asses back to work." A supervisor allegedly told an employee to "let it go" because the White labor leader was "old-fashioned."

The employees repeatedly reported the problems to Whiting-Turner, but the construction company neglected to investigate them. Instead, two of the complaining employees were terminated. Along with the resolution, Chief District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. ordered Whiting-Turner to include a strict ban on racial graffiti, racial jokes, racial slurs, racist remarks, and hate symbols in its anti-harassment policy. In addition, it must assign an EEO representative to each construction site and conduct training on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 every six months.

{{ commentCount }} Comments