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TNT Crane & Rigging, one of the biggest crane providers in the country, is being sued over alleged racial discrimination.
According to the Atlanta Black Star, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against the Texas company alleging that it subjected four Black employees — Edwin Crayton, Lorenzo Smith, Freddie Campbell, and Jason Pradia — to a hostile work environment.
The suit states that the employees' field manager and colleagues used racial slurs and displayed hate symbols like "nooses and lightning bolt stickers" with no disciplinary action.
In one incident, Smith, who worked as a crane operator, said a field manager used the N-word when he asked for help with picking up an air conditioning unit in 2018.
“N*****, if you are going to b**ch about it, you can turn that truck around and take your a** home,” the manager said, according to the lawsuit.
Smith attempted to report the incident, but didn't receive an "effective response" from management, the suit states.
The suit further alleges that Campbell, a truck driver, was referred to as "Black daddy" by his white co-workers. Pradia, who served as a rigger, said a white colleague once told him “A lot of Black people are f***ing lazy.”
“You’re different, you’re not like other n*****. You work though; that’s what I like about you,” the colleague allegedly said.
The lawsuit seeks damages for compensatory and punitive damages for the Black employees.
“TNT knowingly permitted a work environment filled with racist comments and imagery. No employee should have to work in an environment openly hostile to their race, and no employee should suffer reprisal for objecting to discriminatory practices,” EEOC attorney Brian Hawthorne said in a statement.
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