IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing on behalf of black employees at an Iowa warehouse who claim a food distribution company condoned discrimination by allowing racist graffiti in the workplace.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday claims managers at MBM Corp.’s Mason City warehouse failed to remove the graffiti or take action to prevent it for three months after receiving a complaint from a worker last year.
The warehouse referred questions to its North Carolina headquarters. Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday morning.
The lawsuit says employee Justin Green complained in May 2011 to a supervisor that a swastika and a racial epithet were visible in the men’s restroom. The suit says that graffiti was later blacked out but a slur referencing the Ku Klux Klan and hatred of blacks appeared.
