Black grassroots worker faces racism and must shut up: lawsuit

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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) A black civilian employee in the grounds maintenance and kitchen of an Air Force base in Wyoming suffered retaliation and was ultimately fired for complaining when other workers dealt with racial epithets, according to a lawsuit.

A supervisor told Bryan Wheels to keep quiet about racial harassment, which began shortly after he was hired in 2015 and continued until 2017, said the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit against Spokane, based in Washington, Skilskin.

After firing Wheels in December 2017, Skilskin did not follow his practice of honoring his seniority by rehiring him that winter. Instead, the association gave a job to a younger white employee, the EEOC said in its lawsuit filed Monday in Wyoming U.S. District Court in Cheyenne.

The company also did not offer Wheels a job the following spring, according to the lawsuit.

It is quite concerning how blatant the conduct was and the employer was not addressing it, EEOC regional lawyer Mary ONeill said Thursday. There is such a small percentage of African Americans in Wyoming. We worry when there are very few African Americans in the workplace and there is such hostility.

Wheels was the only black member of Skilskin’s contract crew at FE Warren Air Force Base, which oversees 150 Minuteman nuclear missiles in underground silos in Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado.

Skilskin hires people for contract and government jobs in Wyoming, Washington state and Montana, according to the company’s website.

The association subjected Wheels to severe and persistent racial harassment, according to the lawsuit.

At one point, after Wheels complained about a coworker’s racist comments, a supervisor put him on a two-man team with the worker who made the remarks, according to the lawsuit.

The EEOC sought to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with Skilskin, but to no avail, according to the federal agency.

Phone messages left at Skilskin and FE Warren Air Force Base on Wednesday for comment on the trial were not immediately returned.

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