A number of Black employees have come together to file a lawsuit against General Mills, alleging that the company permitted “a racially hostile work environment” at its Covington, Georgia plant.
According to the lawsuit, a group of white managers and HR administrators, dubbed the “Good Ole Boys,” systematically enforced discriminatory policies against Black workers, harassed them, and used Ku Klux Klan imagery to intimidate and demean them.
The lawsuit claims that the “Good Ole Boys” used false and manufactured evidence to discipline Black employees, demote them with false information, and retaliated against those who filed complaints. This group allegedly believed that using imagery associated with the KKK and the Confederacy would keep Black employees “in their place” and silence their complaints.
One notable example cited in the lawsuit is a mural commissioned by General Mills in 2005 at the Covington plant. Designed by a member of the “Good Ole Boys,” the mural depicted characters from General Mills cereals in the likeness of Confederate figures, such as Sonny the Cuckoo Bird as Jefferson Davis, Chef Wendell as Robert E. Lee, and Buzz the Bee as Stonewall Jackson. The mural was only removed in 2021.
The plaintiffs documented numerous incidents of racism over the past 20 years that were ignored by General Mills. In 1993, a noose was left on a Black worker’s desk, and the following year he was told to “Go back to Africa.”
Despite reporting these incidents to HR, no disciplinary action was taken. This worker, along with others, was consistently passed over for promotions in favor of less-qualified individuals.
In the early 2000s, another Black employee found the racial slur “coon” written on his work forms and “KKK” etched on his lunchbox. He was even ordered to submit a handwriting sample to prove he did not write it himself. The lawsuit states that one manager continued to refer to Black people as “colored” well into the 1990s, and another manager told a plaintiff that “women should be at home having kids.”
The lawsuit demands a jury trial, the dissolution of the “Good Ole Boys” group, and compensatory and punitive damages for the plaintiffs. They seek redress for the emotional distress, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life caused by the hostile work environment.
General Mills, a major food manufacturer known for its cereals, baking goods, and snacks, has not commented on the pending litigation. However, the company stated to CNN that it “has a long-standing and ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.”
This lawsuit highlights the ongoing issues of racial discrimination in American workplaces, emphasizing the need for companies to actively address and dismantle systemic racism within their organizations.
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