Three Black former employees of Kraft Heinz have filed a $30 million lawsuit against the company, alleging they endured six years of racial abuse.
The Insider reported that the three workers worked in a California facility and said they were subjected to a barrage of racist slurs, notes, and drawings on their lockers.
The lawsuit alleges the brutal treatment they endured because of their race. The abuse included being called the n-word repeatedly and having notes placed on their lockers that read “Quit or die [n-word].” Apparently, it spanned from 2012 to 2018.
According to the suit, the trio tried to confront management but was advised to “keep their heads down” and allegedly retaliated against it.
A press release from their attorneys said the employees were eventually “forced” out of work and “illegally” fired.
A spokesperson for Kraft Heinz told Insider the allegations were “several years old.” They also claim that when the incidents were brought to the company’s attention, it undertook an extensive investigation, which included cooperating with law enforcement, to ensure that any behavior that violated our policies, if uncovered, was put to an end.
The company has a “zero-tolerance policy for discrimination or harassment of any kind,” they added.
Sanford Heisler Sharp is representing former employees Alex Horn, Lance Aytman, and Keith Hooker.
The lawsuit accuses Kraft Heinz’s dairy plant in Tulare, California, of being “rife with anti-Black slurs, innuendos, threats, and discrimination.”
Racist behavior existed the entire time the three employees worked at the company, the attorneys stated in a recent press release.
The suit also alleges that Swastikas were drawn on multiple Black employees’ lockers and that non-Black employees used the N-word and racist stereotypes in conversation.
Several anonymous notes were also placed in Black employees’ lockers, including one that read “Quit or die N——,” the lawsuit says and accuses the company of acting in “apathy and inaction” to the hostile work environment, the lawsuit continues.
The suit also alleged that the former employees repeatedly informed managers about the racism and their denials of promotions but said that managers told them to “keep their heads down or else they could join the unemployment line.”
One of the managers told Horn that Kraft Heinz’s corporate office told the management at the dairy plant not to investigate the death threats found in lockers because it may upset other employees, the lawsuit claimed.
As a result of the death threats, Hooker resigned, and Horn and Aytman took medical leaves of absence, the suit says.
The lawsuit said that the plaintiffs were given “less desirable” work tasks and that they were passed over for promotions as a form of retaliation.
One of the plaintiffs was “placed on less desirable nightshifts and forced to operate defunct machines by supervisors with a history of contributing to the anti-Black work environment,” the lawsuit said.
The Kraft Heinz spokesperson told Insider that there had been no other racial discrimination or harassment allegations at the Tulare plant since the last 2018 reports.
“Kraft Heinz prides itself on creating diverse and inclusive workplaces, and we have a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination or harassment of any kind,” the spokesperson said.
“Whenever a serious allegation such as this is made, we take immediate and swift action, including conducting a thorough investigation and implementing corrective actions if behaviors contradictory to our values are found,” they said
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