Employees at the Paris, Texas, plant, which was shuttered in 2011, experienced racially offensive comments and graffiti at their workplace each day, including references to black workers as “boy” and “nigger” from white co-workers and supervisors, the commission found in a two-year investigation. Some employees drew caricatures of apes, lynchings, and the phrase “KKK” on the factory’s bathroom walls, according to a separate federal lawsuit, CBS reported. The EEOC will hold a press conference at the Earle Cabelle United States Federal District Court in Dallas later this morning with more details.
The agency also found that black workers were disproportionately exposed to asbestos, toxins, and black mold, while white workers were given promotions and put on jobs away from these hazards, supporting the claim of “environmental racism.”
