Company denies allegations of racial harassment by black employee | Job

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A Washington-based company denied allegations of racial discrimination in a lawsuit filed by a black man who worked on the ground crew at Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming in 2017.

The complaint, filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleges Bryan Wheels suffered repeated racial harassment that went unpunished for months.

Wheels was hired in 2015 by Skils’kin, a Washington-based company that connects people with physical and mental disabilities with employment opportunities and other employment services.

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As of 2017, the EEOC alleges that colleagues and at least one official used racial slurs, including the N word, “monkey” and “jungle bunny” to refer to Wheels or his face.

At the time, according to the complaint, he was the only black person employed by Skils’kin at the Cheyenne base.

The lawsuit alleges that Wheels filed several complaints with supervisors and managers about the offensive comments between May and December 2017, but the people who made them were apparently not disciplined.

The lawsuit further alleges that an official told him to stop filing a complaint and not to tell anyone about the incidents.

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According to the lawsuit, Wheels was told he would be retained year round, a step up from his seasonal job in the field, based on his seniority. After being trained for winter duties, depending on the suit, he was laid off and was not recalled the following year, while a white employee with less seniority was maintained throughout the year.

The company denied the allegations in its response to the United States district court, filed earlier in November. Wheels, they claim, did not follow Skils’kin’s dispute resolution process to file their complaints. They also state that Wheels did not submit a letter stating that they wanted to return after the winter season and therefore was not rehired.

“Employers cannot turn a blind eye to complaints of racial harassment,” said EEOC lawyer Michael LaGarde. “They are obligated to take swift action to end this behavior, and they cannot discharge or retaliate against anyone who makes these complaints.”

Other alleged incidents in the lawsuit include colleagues calling Wheels a “token rental”, making a racist statement about the NBA and relaying another employee that “all black people should die”. The lawsuit also alleges that a co-worker told Wheels that he and a supervisor were going to make him their “b ****”.

In one case, according to the complaint, a supervisor used the N word in front of Wheels and then told someone who had objected that Wheels didn’t care and wouldn’t say anything.

The EEOC calls on Skils’kin to end all discrimination and retaliation against employees and to institute new policies and programs against racial harassment. He is also asking for back pay for the months Wheels found himself out of work after being fired, payment for the losses he suffered due to the loss of his job and punitive damages.

In its November 8 response, the company asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice or to send the case to a jury if necessary.

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