Black workers sue Harris Ranch Beef Co. over alleged discrimination in California
Harris Ranch Beef Co. fostered a hostile work environment for its Black workers, according to separate lawsuits filed against the major meatpacking plant in Selma.
The latest lawsuit was filed on Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court. The previous complaint was filed in February.
The complaints allege supervisors did not take seriously multiple incidents of anti-Black discrimination, including racist graffiti they say was left untouched for days in a bathroom and racist remarks made by a supervisor that went unaddressed for months.
“I find it quite disconcerting that in 2020 there are issues like Nazi symbols, swastikas, the n-word, referring to African Americans as lazy, for a group of workers that are doing incredibly difficult physical work to put food on our table,” said Gaurav Bobby Kalra, an attorney representing both employees.
The Harris Ranch Beef Company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I hope that through cases like this, it will encourage employers to catch up to our current cultural moment and our values that we’re striving for so people can focus on doing their job and not be worried about being treated differently because of their race,” Kalra said.
Harris Ranch supervisor said Black people were ‘lazy,’ lawsuit says
Richard Muldrow, who filed a lawsuit against Harris Ranch Beef Company Thursday, says he suffered an abdominal hernia in September 2019. He was repeatedly discouraged from seeking medical help, according to the lawsuit.
But even after his doctor put him on modified duty, his supervisors continually pushed him to perform regular tasks, the lawsuit says. In contrast, non-Black workers were allowed to perform light duty. As retaliation, his supervisors attempted to cut his hours and falsify his employment records to show he had discipline points, according to the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Muldrow alleges his former supervisor asked, “Why are your people so lazy. I used to think Blacks work hard, but you all are on modified duty.”
Muldrow told The Bee his complaints lingered for months before the company began investigating.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable,” Muldrow said in an interview. “I felt like those were very serious issues, but I don’t think they were taken very seriously. It was kind of replaying in my head while I was on the line, and I would get upset. Everything was, ‘I’ll get back to you, I’ll get back to you.’ Not once did they go hey ‘Richard, this is where we’re at, how are you doing?’”
In his most recent position, Muldrow said he was again forced to perform the work of at least two people when he should have been on modified duty. When he failed to complete that work, the lawsuit claims the supervisor intimidated and assaulted him by putting an index finger on his chest.
Muldrow said the alleged assault pushed him to quit.
“I told myself, I have a family to take care of,” he told The Bee. “I would be so stressed out and angry at work with some of the stuff that I was dealing with, I’d come home, and my family would get it. They would take the backlash and the mental abuse I faced at work. It was taking a toll on my family.”
Muldrow also alleged in the lawsuit several racist symbols and words were written in public spaces but not taken seriously by management.
“We’ve seen the n-word all over the bathrooms and locker rooms and things like that,” he said.
When he complained to managers, he said he was asked, “Which one? The one in the bathroom, or the one in the stalls?”
“They didn’t have it removed until the end of the next day,” Muldrow said.
Harris Ranch didn’t take racist slurs seriously, lawsuit says
In a lawsuit filed Feb. 26, another Black employee, Michael Love, alleged he found in May 2019 scrawled in the bathroom his name, followed by “whack a** ni***r.” He immediately informed his supervisor and human resources, but his supervisor simply responded, “I’m not a bathroom monitor,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the slur was not removed until a week later, when Love asked a janitor to do it.
“I wanted that off the wall,” Love told The Bee. “That hurt in my heart at the end of the day. You know, I’m a good worker. I gave them everything I had.“
After filing a complaint with human resources, Love felt the company was looking for a reason to fire him, according to the lawsuit.
Four months after reporting the slur, in September 2019, Love was terminated. After finishing his work early on a Saturday, he said he tried to sign out, but his supervisor said that was not required on Saturdays. The next workday, he was terminated for failing to sign out, according to the lawsuit.
“I lost my work. I lost everything. You know, at this point in time, I don’t know what to do,” Love told The Bee.
Like Muldrow, Love also has three kids. One of his children is in the hospital for a severe genetic mutation.
“I had to borrow money from my family to pay rent,” he said. “I had to go days or weeks at a time with my phone unpaid. Even with the lights, it gets hard. It goes a few days with the lights off.”
Both workers are suing for lost wages, earnings and benefits, emotional distress, other damages, and attorney fees.
“It should be unacceptable today for an African American worker to hear the n-word and then be retaliated against for that,” said Kalra, the attorney.
